Anvers Island, Antarctica
Within the span of eight hours, the National Geographic Explorer navigated two of the most scenic passages in all of Antarctica, each of them in near-perfect conditions. We are on the western, snowy side of the Peninsula, and the steep slopes that surround us are shrouded with snow and ice. After dinner last night, it was the LeMaire Channel, a narrow passage between Booth Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. Early in the summer season, as now, the water can be choked with sea ice in flat floes and icebergs of various sizes calved from the glaciers that surround us. We are the second ship, and the first carrying tourists, to manage the passage this year. We gathered in our favorite viewing spots — the bridge, the forward looking decks, the chart room — to gaze up at the sight of Una Peaks guarding the entrance, and watch the ship's officers deftly maneuver the ship around and between the floating ice. At the southern end of the LeMaire our fine ship sliced through one-year-old sea ice, formed last winter, as we reached the southernmost point of our exploration at 65°07'S.
This morning we were at the northern end of the equally scenic Neumeyer Channel, between Anvers and Wienke Islands, for a morning traverse to the site of our activities at Damoy Point. There, some chose a walk ashore with a colony of gentoo penguins; others opted for a Zodiac cruise in search of ice and wildlife. We found all three. A crabeater seal lounged on an ice floe. Was it even aware of the scenic backdrop for our clicking cameras? Probably not.
Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a fin broke the surface close to our Zodiacs and we found ourselves surrounded by a group of orca or killer whales searching the ice for seals. They led us up the Channel, following the border between drifting ice and open water, until they found a seal on the ice. Killer whales travel in family groups to search for their prey, always in vocal communication with the others of their group. They then work in coordinated precision to make the capture. As we watched in excitement one, then two, three, and four black and white heads rose from the icy water to examine their find. We could see the yellow stain of diatoms on their white bellies. The ice floe rocked as they lifted it from below. Then they created a wave that washed over the ice. The seal clung to the ice, its only refuge from these consummate predators. For some reason known only to the whales, they seemed to decide that a leopard seal was not to their liking this morning, and they left it on the ice. No doubt, they could have prevailed. Perhaps a leopard seal was too lean for their taste and they moved on to find a fat-rich Weddell seal. One whale made several passes close under our Zodiacs, clearly examining us, and then they were gone. It was a breathtaking moment, imprinted forever on our minds.
This afternoon we visited Palmer Station at Arthur Harbor on the south side of Anvers Island. It is one of three sites of the U.S. Antarctic Research Program, supporting a diversity of scientific studies. (The other sites are McMurdo, on the Ross Sea, and the Scott-Amundsen Station at the South Pole.) Visits to the station are limited, so we were indeed fortunate. After our tours of the station, some of the scientists and support personnel joined us in the ship's lounge to speak of their research and answer our questions about life in the Antarctic. They are clearly dedicated people, passionate about their work and its contribution to the national scientific effort.
