At sea, King George Island
Today, we had our very first sight of Antarctica or at least the Shetland Islands. So we are very close. At about 10am our iceberg contest was won as someone stepped outside just after the mandatory Antarctica briefing was complete. The Captain maneuvered the Endeavour to pass closely by the huge ice-sculpture. It was a beautiful sight, right alongside the ship, our first large iceberg! We had now passed both the biological (the Antarctic Convergence) and political border (south latitude 60o). From this point forward it is about ice and penguins!
What is Antarctica? Ideas about a continent down south existed for a long time and the explorer of all time, Capt. James Cook did try to investigate Terra Australis, but never actually saw the continent. He did cross the Antarctic Circle twice in 1773 without finding any land, but he did sight huge icebergs similar to the ones we saw today.
As we slowly made our way towards the South Shetland Islands, entering the very rugged passage of English Strait, that lies between the islands of Greenwich and Roberts While transiting the Strait we could imagine what the sailor William Smith first saw in 1819. He and his ship had been driven way south and well off course trying to escape a bad storm in the Drake Passage, they found shelter in the South Shetlands. Word got out about the abundance of seals and very soon several ships from Britain and New England arrived to harvest this great bounty. Within a few years the whole fur seal population was decimated.
Today with all the current high tech equipment, navigating in these waters is still a challenge. It is a wonder as to how all the sealers were able to navigate in these tricky waters, using only sails and a lead weight for a depth sounder.
The competent bridge officers navigated us to a safe anchorage and our Zodiac fleet was launched just after lunch. We had arrived to Aitcho Island, a strange deviation for Admiralty Hydrological Office, “H.O”. Here two species of penguins nest, the Gentoo and the Chinstrap. We arrived for a short glimpse of penguin life and nesting behavior. The penguin’s chicks are now about 3-4 weeks old and some have gathered in groups. The Gentoo penguins seem to be slightly ahead of the Chinstrap in the breeding cycle.
After a satisfying outing and exploration of the island, the ship heaved anchor and we headed south east into the Brainsfield Strait. Our course now set towards the "real" Antarctica. Not far out, we encountered our very first group of humpback whales and the three animals put on a great show, as they were busy feeding on the krill. The huge biomass of krill is in these waters are the primary food source either directly or indirectly for the animals of the Antarctic.
As we continued to sail towards the Antarctic Sound more ice-bergs and whales were evident. What a great start for our once in a lifetime experience, onboard National Geographic Endeavour!
Who the first was to really see the continent has been under debate! The British claim Brainsfield and the American claim Palmer, but the true answer was more than likely a Russian sailor onboard the ship Vostok, as Bellingshausen did his circumnavigation around Antarctica 1821. Tomorrow we will enter the Antarctica that James Cook never saw.
Today, we had our very first sight of Antarctica or at least the Shetland Islands. So we are very close. At about 10am our iceberg contest was won as someone stepped outside just after the mandatory Antarctica briefing was complete. The Captain maneuvered the Endeavour to pass closely by the huge ice-sculpture. It was a beautiful sight, right alongside the ship, our first large iceberg! We had now passed both the biological (the Antarctic Convergence) and political border (south latitude 60o). From this point forward it is about ice and penguins!
What is Antarctica? Ideas about a continent down south existed for a long time and the explorer of all time, Capt. James Cook did try to investigate Terra Australis, but never actually saw the continent. He did cross the Antarctic Circle twice in 1773 without finding any land, but he did sight huge icebergs similar to the ones we saw today.
As we slowly made our way towards the South Shetland Islands, entering the very rugged passage of English Strait, that lies between the islands of Greenwich and Roberts While transiting the Strait we could imagine what the sailor William Smith first saw in 1819. He and his ship had been driven way south and well off course trying to escape a bad storm in the Drake Passage, they found shelter in the South Shetlands. Word got out about the abundance of seals and very soon several ships from Britain and New England arrived to harvest this great bounty. Within a few years the whole fur seal population was decimated.
Today with all the current high tech equipment, navigating in these waters is still a challenge. It is a wonder as to how all the sealers were able to navigate in these tricky waters, using only sails and a lead weight for a depth sounder.
The competent bridge officers navigated us to a safe anchorage and our Zodiac fleet was launched just after lunch. We had arrived to Aitcho Island, a strange deviation for Admiralty Hydrological Office, “H.O”. Here two species of penguins nest, the Gentoo and the Chinstrap. We arrived for a short glimpse of penguin life and nesting behavior. The penguin’s chicks are now about 3-4 weeks old and some have gathered in groups. The Gentoo penguins seem to be slightly ahead of the Chinstrap in the breeding cycle.
After a satisfying outing and exploration of the island, the ship heaved anchor and we headed south east into the Brainsfield Strait. Our course now set towards the "real" Antarctica. Not far out, we encountered our very first group of humpback whales and the three animals put on a great show, as they were busy feeding on the krill. The huge biomass of krill is in these waters are the primary food source either directly or indirectly for the animals of the Antarctic.
As we continued to sail towards the Antarctic Sound more ice-bergs and whales were evident. What a great start for our once in a lifetime experience, onboard National Geographic Endeavour!
Who the first was to really see the continent has been under debate! The British claim Brainsfield and the American claim Palmer, but the true answer was more than likely a Russian sailor onboard the ship Vostok, as Bellingshausen did his circumnavigation around Antarctica 1821. Tomorrow we will enter the Antarctica that James Cook never saw.
