11/17: Out of This World Icebergs in Antarctica & Penguins on the Rocks!

The day's program that had been posted the night before called for breakfast bright and early at 7 followed immediately by a landing at Hydrurga Rocks that were named after the scientific name for the genus of the leopard seal. We'd hoped to be able to see some seals swimming around or resting ashore at the small landing site located at the northern entrance of the Gerlache Strait. The afternoon called for a zodiac cruise at Foyn Harbor, that was situated between Nansen and Enterprise islands off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The harbor had been named by whalers after the whaling factory ship Svend Foyn, which was moored here during 1921-22. The crew had planned this activity so passengers could see the remains of whaling activity as well as the wreck of the whaling ship Governoren, a Norwegian whaler that caught fire and went aground there. 

Both activities sounded really fun but, as we had been warned our first night, everything on the ten-day cruise was subject to the weather. You probably figured out by now that after breakfast an announcement was made cancelling the day's activities. It was because it was so early in the season, there was a lot of ice floating in the ocean. That was a bummer but luckily the captain and Pablo, the expedition leader, devised some alternatives. Pablo reminded us that this wasn’t a city tour where all stops could be planned to the nth degree. This was an expedition where weather was the controlling factor in where we went each day.

Some members of the crew left on the zodiacs to do a reconnaissance of Spert Island to check out what could be done before taking the passengers ashore in the early afternoon. We found out later that 75 percent of the crew had never landed there before so it was a new experience for us as well as for most of them!

It looked like absolute miserable conditions in the morning with the fog and cold weather.

As I wrote in the previous post, the weather can change quickly in Antarctica and that was fortunately the case for us as it was glorious much later!

Zodiacs being off-loaded for our afternoon cruise to Spert Island:

I was warm on deck and wasn't sure I'd need all my layers later.

Once all the zodiacs were off-loaded, they each waited a ways from the ship while one loaded up with passengers and then moved out of the way so the remaining zodiacs could then fill up. Only then did all the zodiacs leave, one following another in a line as a safety measure in the rapidly approaching fog.

Juan, our boatman, bird photographer and naturalist:

We sure hoped Juan could follow the other zodiac drivers as the fog was like a pea souper and we could hardly see a thing.

Before the trip I had never though about what the definition was of an iceberg. For those in the same 'boat,' to classify as an iceberg, it must measure five meters in height.

I'll let the pictures do the 'talking' for me here!

Spert Island lay off the west extremity of Trinity Island, in the Palmer Archipelago and was charted by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition led by Dr. Otto Nordenskjöld from 1901-04. It was named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place Names Committee in 1960.

A number of the zodiac drivers came close to this 'gate' in the rocks but never went through. I can imagine how some may have been rather apprehensive as this was new ground for them, too. 

Horst, a fellow from Germany, had gotten the premiere seat on the zodiac!

Once the fog cleared a bit, the sight of the rocks was nothing short of spectacular!

We learned these large chunks were called Brash ice and likely came from a nearby glacier. They were such a strange phenomena to me.

After circling around for a good while, Juan returned to the cave opening with one other zodiac driver. We had no idea then how we'd lucked out and happened to be on Juan's zodiac.

Several of the zodiacs congregated at the entrance but only Juan and one other driver took the plunge and went through - I had no idea why the others didn't.

On the left was Carolyn, a lovely woman from Dallas we got to know; then the two in the middle were Carol and Keith from Rockhampton, Australia, one of the two couples from Down Under we became close to!

Margaret and her husband, Mike, were another Australian couple we met and shared many meals with. Margaret was the tech wizard on board and taught me and several other 'older women' how to Bluetooth our photos like none other!

Going through the opening was like a big venture into the unknown, wondering what might be on the other side!

The water in the little inlet or bay was truly the most beautiful shade of Caribbean blue. It was positively dazzling.

The blue-tinted icebergs were just spectacular to see and produced lots of oohs and aahs from everyone on the zodiac!

We have been overwhelmingly fortunate to have seen some of the world's most gorgeous sights since we began traveling together internationally the last seven years. However, the vision of the next few icebergs and the ice-blue water underneath were among the greatest natural sights I have ever seen.

Just before leaving the small inner bay, I happened to glance way up and noticed these birds perched on the rock.

Seeing this through the mist was like an apparition - very, very eerie!

As a crew member later reported, "The magical Spert Island got us closer to a truly glacial scenery." I could certainly see why Pablo stated the unexpected expedition to the island should be added to future itineraries as it had exceeded everyone's expectations.

We returned to the Ushuaia at 2:30 for a very late lunch and content to rest a bit before a second trip out on the zodiacs to nearby Trinity Island the ship neared while we'd been eating.

The weather had cleared up so there was far less fog than there had been for a large part of the late morning. You can clearly see the large chunks of ice that the captain wanted to stay clear of.

Once again, the weather changed quickly and produced some dramatic views from the ship.

After donning all our heavy clothes once again, we were out on the zodiacs again at 4:30 to tour Mikkelsen Harbor, a small bay on the south side of Trinity Island in the Palmer Archipelago. The name comes from Peder Michelsen, a whaling manager who was lost in the whaling grounds in December of 1910. 

You can see where the ice had fallen off the glacier.

More ice blue formations greeted us in the afternoon en route to the island.

There was an emergency hut on the shore, put there just in case weather conditions changed quickly awhile we were on the island and we wouldn’t be able to return to the ship. Not exactly reassuring in the glass half-empty sense!

But, in the very much glass half-full sense, we got to see many more gentoo penguins!

I remember the odor of their poop as it was almost enough to make you gag! These penguins were hot as evidenced by their holding their wings out at almost right angles! If cold, they keep them close to their chest.

The mud and their poo combined to make their chest less than pristine white!

On the side of the emergency hut was the almost complete Argentinian flag. It was missing the yellow sun in the middle for some reason.

If I see you in Denver, remind me to show you this video as it's pretty darn cute!

These two looked like sweethearts holding hands!

What initially appeared to be just lumps on the glacier in front of us turned out to be Weddell seals!

This long line of penguins grabbed my attention right away, so off I went exploring to get closer.

The bottom of another 'penguin highway' we'd been alerted to remain away from!

These were our first Weddell seals although they looked like lumps on the snow!

Another penguin rookery on the rocks!

Our ship, the Ushuaia, in the distance:

When the wind picked up, it got very chilly damn quickly, but also made for some interesting shots.

We were warned to stay very far from this part of the glacier in case it calved or broke away into the ocean.

Oops, another face plant in the snow!

At no point did I ever get a sense that the penguins seemed to be afraid of us or concerned for their safety. They weren't skittish and didn't attempt to evade us from what I observed. 

By 6, the zodiacs started to take passengers back to the ship. I wanted to dawdle as long as possible as I was having too much fun!

This tiny bird almost escaped my attention as it blended in so well!

A lost Adelie penguin wandering around the shore among all the Gentoo penguins:

Down on the beach was a chinstrap penguin.

Do you think my honey was chilly as we made our way back to the ship?!

Some photos from later that evening that reinforced the fact we were really in a strange new world for us:

The Antarctic light at sunset at 9:45 was magical for a wannabe photographer like myself.

Next post: Almost Landing on the Continent.

Posted on December 13th, 2019, from the former Jesuit mission town of Trinidad, Paraguay.