11/18: Nature At Its Best - BIuest of Blue Icebergs & Weddell Seals!

When we got up, we noticed it had snowed overnight and Pablo, the Crew Expedition Leader, announced that because the winds had increased to 50 mph, there would be no morning landing that we’d been looking forward to.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Steven and I can't figure out how to load videos into the post. IF you're in the Denver area, remind me to show you some neat videos not only of the penguins but of the icebergs we came across. 

I swear this photo was taken by my phone - and not even an iPhone at that - and no special effects!

Around noon, the weather improved sufficiently so we finally got out on the zodiacs for a cruise in Fournier Bay, a natural anchorage in Amberes Island. I thought our opportunity the previous day to see some jaw-dropping icebergs was a once in a lifetime one but two days in a row was beyond my wildest dreams! Sailing around small, grounded icebergs in the tiny zodiacs gave us a tremendous chance to see up close the variety in shape and color of the mammoth ice masses. 

The two crew members were so bundled up I hardly recognized them!

Horst and Carolyn, two passengers I mentioned in a previous post, were in the same zodiac with us.

For those who enjoyed watching sea birds, an added bonus was observing the Snow petrels, Antarctic shags, Kelp gull and Antarctic Terns that followed the ship and the zodiacs.

It took great expertise on the part of the boatmen navigating around the chunks of ice. When they went over smaller ones, it sounded like a rat-a-tat under the zodiacs! I was concerned the sharp chunks might pierce the rubberized zodiacs but obviously they were strong enough to withstand the chunks.

The experience being out on the zodiacs and maneuvering around the ice was a huge amount of fun but it was windy as all get out, so we didn't protest too much when dropping temperatures forced our return to the Ushuaia after 75 minutes and were able to get some hot tea.

Windy and chilly as it was, we went out on deck after lunch as we knew we couldn't take for granted the opportunity to view the floating ice.

We attended a lecture on ice that afternoon which was actually quite fascinating! We were approaching summer in Antarctica when the amount of ice covering the continent would be four million square kilometers compared to five times that amount in the winter. When the ice melts in the summer, it allows for greater marine life.

The thickness of the ice depends on a number of factors and can range from 30 cm up to one meter. It continues to grow in some areas up to six meters in depth while in others it melts. Due to climate change, Antarctica is losing its sea ice more and more each year just as is happening in the Arctic.

A large amount of sea ice is required for krill to survive. It takes one season for krill to develop from the time females sink eggs until they are fully developed. The biggest population of krill in the world is during the summer in the Antarctica. The life cycle of Antarctic krill starts in the southern summer when females lay eggs that rapidly sink from an astonishing 800 to 2,500 meters where they are safe from plankton feeders. 

During the long winter months, krill larvae and adults survive below the sea ice protected from predators and feed mainly on ice algae. That was why sea ice was so vital for the krills' survival. 

Ice coming from the Antarctica continent was especially cold and very hard. Ice coming from the glaciers was warmer and also had a thin layer of water which lubricated the glacier and helped it move toward the ocean. Glaciers and icebergs were always moving toward the coast. 

Icebergs come in different sizes and classifications with the smallest ones called Growlers which were up to 5 meters. I loved the term 'Bergy Bit' to describe the second smallest one. Icebergs can be up to 100 kms in size and those can be tracked by satellite. 

As icebergs break apart, scientists continue to track and classify the new smaller icebergs by name. Our bridge always had a list of named icebergs to make sure the ship could avoid them. There was  no set size an iceberg needs to be to cause problems for the ship as they could all potentially be problematic.

We learned an iceberg's color was dependent on the contents of the air inside the ice - less air meant more transparent ice. The crystal of the ice will absorb different colors of the sun and therefore be bluer. 

When volcanoes erupt, the ice of the glaciers will be brown in color but it all depends on the type of sediment. Red and green icebergs - which come from the algae growing on the ice - are not uncommon but we never saw any. Just imagine coming across a red or green iceberg - that would have blown my mind even more than what we saw which I thought was beyond fantastic!

If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn some contemporary artist had spent a 'whale' of a time creating these artistic masterpieces. 

This was within a meter of our ship!

Close to 6, we were able to get out again on the zodiacs to visit Damoy Point located between Isla Amberes and Isla Wieneke. I have run out of superlatives to express the wonders we saw so will let the photos tell the story.

Too bad we were having such a lousy time!

One of my favorite iceberg shots!

We didn't land this time but the sight of the penguins on the rocks and cavorting in the water was enough for my day's penguin fix!

I think only one other zodiac happened to pass this mini iceberg and caught sight of these Weddell seals. It's impossible not to be blown away by the wonder of Nature coming across the seals on the blue ice. These seal shots have to be among my favorite shots of all time. 

I bet you can almost hear and feel the zodiacs carefully making their way over these chunks of ice. It was like hearing a blender on super speed!

You can see how windy it was by the way my hair was flying!

I took advantage of the bridge's open door policy and took some shots from there as it was far more comfortable away from the wind. Plus, it was hard to imagine a better location to photograph the Ushuaia traveling through the scenic Neumayer Channel. 

At the evening recap meeting after dinner, Pablo said that since we’d been unable to land on the Antarctica continent that day, the crew hoped we’d be able to land at Neko Harbor the next where there would be lots of Gentoo penguins nesting there. His announcement that everyone needed to be up at 6:30 for breakfast and then a two-and-a-half-hour landing at 8 was met with groans! He said we’d likely hear lots of calving of the glacier, i.e. little tsunamis when massive chunks of ice break off, so we’d have to be especially careful near the coastline.

The two Australian women, Carol and Margaret: the latter was the tech whiz for the 'mature set' and patiently taught us how to share our photos via Bluetooth, a skill I had no use of before. 

Next post: Landing at last on the continent, not once but twice!

Posted on December 14th, 2019, from tiny Trinidad in southern Paraguay, a town founded by the Jesuits in the 1700s.