Grandidier Channel / Antarctic Circle
Through the night our ship National Geographic Explorer had been heading south on the west side of Renaud and Lavoisier Islands. On waking to a new day we found we were in a different world. A long rolling swell reminded us that we were back out at sea. For those early risers amongst us there were some outstanding sights to be observed from the bridge. At one moment as the sun broke through the light covering of high stratus cloud as a pair of albatross flew across our bow. One a grey headed the other a light mantled sooty flying in perfect unison. Out ahead of the ship a vast tabular iceberg, reflecting the low angle of the sun, stretched across much of our horizon. Spouts from whale blows punctuated the surface of the ocean. What a way to start the day.
Upon approaching the Antarctic Circle (66.33’ S) a heavy rolling sea and thick pack ice ahead thwarted our ambition to sail into Marguerite Bay. The decision was made to turn around once we had reached the Circle and head towards Prospect Point through Pendleton Strait. We were all surprised how thick the pack ice was in the sound between the outer islands and the mainland peninsula. Amongst the pack ice large pans of unbroken sea ice were an irresistible challenge for our Captain to try and drive the ship through. We also nosed the ship into one of these areas of ice and parked, the idea being to allow those who wanted to, a chance to walk out on the sea’s frozen surface. Unfortunately the ice was found to be too wet and slushy to be safe to walk upon.
In the morning Birgit Buhleier gave an astonishing presentation recounting her and her husband’s work with crittercams. These are tiny cameras that they have placed on underwater mammals and penguins to record some of their behaviour. I had always wondered how whales manage to feed their calves, a camera placed on the back of a humpback whale calf revealed some of this mystery.
In the afternoon a presentation by myself telling of my adventures with husky dogs in both the Antarctic and the Arctic seemed to capture the imagination of most of us fellow travellers.
The afternoon seamlessly blended into the evening as our ship made its way north through the Grandidier Channel which was completely choked with heavy pack ice. To add to the drama of the setting heavy showers of snow came and went. Weather conditions this season have been unusual and little of last winter’s pack ice has been broken up or blown out to sea. None of the expedition staff could remember having been in such heavy ice at this time of year. Out on the surface of the ice countless numbers of sleeping crabeater seals were to be seen, apparently enjoying the calm of the day, no doubt digesting copious quantities of krill harvested from under where they lay.
Occasionally minke whales were spotted swimming though the open leads amongst the ice. Later in the evening one of the most memorable moments of our journey began to unfold, the low stratus cloud cleared, revealing sun lit mountains and pack ice in all directions as far as the eye could see. The warm yellow and orange of this evening light transformed an extraordinary landscape into one which had a beauty that is hard to describe.
