South of the Antarctic Circle and Detaille Island
Over 24 hours south of the Antarctic Circle is an achievement few people can claim and one that we can only accomplish a handful of times each season of exploration in the Antarctic. Various factors determine whether or not we can navigate south of that fabled latitude, mainly the extent of ice that would impede our passage through the preferred protected corridors along the Antarctic Peninsula. Well, as you read in yesterday’s expedition report, the stars had aligned for us and we crossed south of the circle just after dinner. The excitement about achieving that invisible dashed line would not be fully realized until very early this morning. At around 0630 hrs the captain and crew had pointed the bow of our fine ship into the pack ice and made way for points further south. Already from the bridge we could see numerous Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazelle) and crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinopgaga) hauled out on the relatively large pancake flows averaging about 1-2 meters in thickness. Certainly many of our guests were awakened by the unfamiliar sound of ice being split by the bow of the ship.
With many folks gathered on the bow to witness this awesome exercise of driving through the pack ice and observing the seals and vast Antarctic scape, a call came from the bridge that a “tall” object had been spotted off in the distance. To us naturalists that meant only one thing, tall penguins – emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri)! Indeed about 1/2 of kilometer off the bow lay two of these rulers of the penguin world. If the sound of ice being ground against our hull didn’t wake people up, the announcement of the sighting of emperor’s surely did. Within minutes all decks were filled with excited red parkas and furious clicks of the shutter. Our captain and officers had soon gently placed the bow of National Geographic Explorer against the flow the giant flightless birds were on, just meters away. For nearly 45 minutes we gazed in awe at these two juvenile four-foot-tall penguins, the symbol of all that is Antarctica. They walked around, tobogganed on their bellies and in general acted very calm in the presence of such a strange sight as we were. It appeared that this small patch of the Southern Ocean was a magnet not only for our natural attraction to the penguins but amidst our viewing window a Minke whale surfaced in the sliver of open water and soon after that a crabeater seal lunged out of the water onto the flow giving our once calm and collected royalty quite a start as they waddled off.
We slowly backed away from this frozen oasis to further explore the pack ice. Our furthest point south would be just a hair past the 67th parallel before turning north again and onto our next adventure. As we wound and ground our way through the ice scores more seals would be spotted as well as another unique avian resident of this icy expanse, the snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea). Were it not for the black beaks, eyes and feet these pure white seabirds would go unseen. We were very fortunate to observe dozens of these birds perched atop the tallest icebergs and occasionally flying low over the water in search of food. A more picturesque and enthralling Antarctic morning couldn’t have been better crafted.
For the third and final time our ship would visit the once-abandoned and historic British Base “W” on Detaille Island nested just south of the Antarctic Circle. This visit had significance beyond that of sharing this time capsule of scientific exploration suddenly abandoned in 1959 when its occupants had to vacate before winter took hold, for we ourselves were to extract three representatives from the British Antarctic Heritage Trust tasked to complete restoration work on the base. Three dedicated people we have come to know quite well over the years of travel here in Antarctica. Indeed we were their means of getting them and their supplies to the base just over a month ago, and we would be their relief before the end of the summer season.
Along with strolling through this fascinating sight we were lucky enough to be able to offer Zodiac cruises around this distinct rocky outpost. With massive icebergs stranded from various storms and many grounded on the numerous shoals and terraced bathometry surrounding the island, all set with a backdrop of clear blue skies and surrounding mountains of the bay, the afternoon was sure to be a pleasure. The stage was set and our fleet of Zodiacs would be the directors guiding our expedition through the maze of ice, reefs and Antarctic wildlife. A small nesting colony of Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) call Detaille Island home for the breeding season as well as Antarctic shags (Phallocorcorax bransfieldensis). Numerous Antarctic fur seals were using the rocky shores to rest and a handful of other seals were hauled out on the flows. It’s at this time that the Adelie chicks are nearly fledged and have molted in preparation for their lives as the other true Antarctic penguin, sticking out the winters in the waters around the icy continent.
The pleasure of a day like today could be measured by the toothy smiles and energized conversation around the lounge as we shared the highlights of a day below the circle Antarctic.
