Thursday, March 7, 2019 – The zodiac cruise yesterday afternoon at Melchior Island was pretty amazing, although it did get a little cold, especially toward the end! We saw several species of sea birds, fur seals (which were nearly decimated in the early 20th century, but have made a great comeback), and even a solo Gentoo penguin!
Back to the ship for dinner and the daily recap and briefing, a typically interesting review of the activities and events of the day. Yesterday, it was hysterical! The guest services manager had done a video of how to walk on snow using bed sheets on the stairs… I nearly peed myself 🙂
The seas were rocking and rolling overnight, sort of like sleeping in a waterbed! Awoke this morning to mostly clear skies but all outside decks were closed because there was snow late last evening, which turned to ice overnight, so the outside areas were like a huge ice skating ring! The sun rising over the ocean and icebergs was breathtaking!
Lots of crabeater seals on sea ice were very close to the ship, and I even spotted a single Adele penguin on the ice as we made our way to our destination for the day – The Antarctic Circle! At around 9:45am, we crossed the Circle.
The ship’s horn was supposed to sound to announce our crossing, however, the horn was frozen!! A group photo was taken, a brief story about Antarctic exploration was read, and the group toasted champagne and mimosas to celebrate the crossing.
One of the most exciting things about expedition cruising is that even when there’s a plan, it doesn’t happen until it happens, and sometimes plans change completely. Today’s plan was to cross the Circle, then go on a place called Detaille Island to potentially go ashore, but the sea ice was too heavy, so we dropped anchor and the polar plunge happened instead. 82 crazy people—including yours truly
—jumped off a perfectly good ship into water that is -1 degree Celsius (a little under 30F). I was rewarded with a shot of Scotch, and then went straight to the café and got a hot cup of tea, after which I took a long hot shower! I was chilled, but my feet were freezing after walking down a flight of metal stairs barefooted, jumping into the water, climbing out and then walking back upstairs, it felt like they were frozen solid! Someone at lunch mentioned that you can last less than 4 minutes if you fall into these waters. I wouldn’t want to test it – 30-40 seconds is more than enough!
Now I’m all set – having a glass of scotch over glacial ice while I’m finishing up today’s writings… We had another zodiac cruise today. The air temperature is little warmer today than yesterday, and there’s not quite a much wind, so the ride was amazing! Crabeater seals were abundant on the sea ice, and fun to watch. They are actually krill eaters, not crab eaters. The working theory is that a German word for crustacean is similar to crab, hence the name.
We actually saw some krill. They look like little transparent and red shrimp! These little tiny critters are the species with the largest biomass in the world. That means that the total mass of all the krill in the oceans is larger than the total mass of any other species, including blue whales and elephants!
There were also lots of seabirds, mostly snow petrels and storm petrels, but there were a few other species as well, I just don’t recall what they were. The birds are always fun to watch…
The special treat of the day was an ice bar! The expedition leader and the bar staff set up hot chocolate, Drambuie and Bailey’s bar on a float of sea ice. Each zodiac was able to stop, step on to the ice platform and enjoy a hot drink and a photo op. Lots of people didn’t need much prompting to act out some fun… great way to end a fabulous zodiac cruise!
Not sure what tomorrow brings. As we move north again, I’m seeing the tabular icebergs we woke up to early this morning. Its funny how fast you start to recognize landmarks, even when everything is blue, white or gray.
Travels with Nance 