Monday, November 24, 2008
1 p.m.
As we near the end of our journey, our schedule is getting exciting.
This morning we woke at 4.30am to stunning views all around. We were
sailing through a narrow passage between the Antarctic Peninsula and a
series of islands and sounds. The captain, Jorge, as usual, played
classical music as he sailed through these difficult waters. Over the
past three days, increasing icebergs have required at least two men at
all times to be on the bridge, watching both the radars and also
visually checking the way. If necessary, the captain sends a Zodiac to
check out the level of ice that he might see either by eye or on the
radar.
The radar picks up on anything above the surface of the water, but below
the water it is less likely to highlight objects. This makes black
ice in particular very dangerous. Black ice is the oldest ice
usually thousands of years old, and has lost all of the bubbles due to
compaction. It looks black in the water, and floats not above, but just
at water level. When black ice is removed from the water, its clearly
not black but instead perfectly clear. It is also the most coveted ice
to use with Gin, which we are currently sampling.
We arrived first at Almirante Brown Station on Paradise Bay. We were
able to take a Zodiac tour of the bay full of ice, and many boats were
chased and harassed by a Leopard Seal. The last time our team was in
this same bay, a Leopard Seal actually managed to puncture one of the
Zodiacs! So we knew we had to the seal seriously. Leopard Seals are
naturally very aggressive, and several dragged their teeth along our
Zodiacs today, and once threatening Monika as she waited for some of us
to board the Zodiac, getting a little too close to a Penguin colony for
the seals comfort.
We also were able to climb a large stone precipice above the station,
and slide all the way down.
We then went back to ship for lunch, and for sailing on to Neko Harbour,
where a glacier sits in the middle of a bay. And some of us are
preparing for a swim in the ice waters
PHOTO: Ice seen while on Zodiac cruise in Paradise Bay.
