Elephant Island
Today began cool and stayed that way. There were long periods of clear skies in between the foggy conditions that persisted throughout the day. There was very little wind to clear the fog away from the northeastern extent of the South Shetland Islands. We had traveled all of yesterday and then most of today to reach this point. Having passed over the Antarctic Convergence last night, the air and water were both hovering around 0°C. So today we were ice hunters. The task was to find an iceberg, and it had to be larger then the ship. The conditions were right and the small bergy bits and growlers wetted our appetites for the larger quarry. There were a few presentations on penguins given in the lounge as the ship ventured ever-farther south. It was during one of these talks that someone spotted a large iceberg near the horizon. The captain confirmed the find as legitimate and the contest was over.
The afternoon was spent continuing on to Elephant Island. The fog became thicker and thicker as we got closer only to lift and expose the sheer cliffs and glaciers that make up the northern side of the island. We had arrived at Point Wild, the temporary camp for many of the unfortunate but hardy Shackelton expedition. The story is an incredible one. As the leader and a select few made their way 800 miles to South Georgia for help and rescue, the rest lived along a narrow spit of land underneath their overturned small boats. They did this during the Austral winter. We had a touch of winter ourselves. The conditions were very favorable so we put all our zodiac down for a tour amongst the ice and glaciers of the point. Towards the end of our cruise snow began to fall and then it fell even harder and faster. We realized just how cold this environment is when the snow, upon hitting the ocean surface, created a white sheen because the ocean was too cold to melt it. We marveled at the subtle tones of blue ice and grey skies against black rock with the occasional group of squabbling penguins. It was a spectacular introduction to the white continent.
Today began cool and stayed that way. There were long periods of clear skies in between the foggy conditions that persisted throughout the day. There was very little wind to clear the fog away from the northeastern extent of the South Shetland Islands. We had traveled all of yesterday and then most of today to reach this point. Having passed over the Antarctic Convergence last night, the air and water were both hovering around 0°C. So today we were ice hunters. The task was to find an iceberg, and it had to be larger then the ship. The conditions were right and the small bergy bits and growlers wetted our appetites for the larger quarry. There were a few presentations on penguins given in the lounge as the ship ventured ever-farther south. It was during one of these talks that someone spotted a large iceberg near the horizon. The captain confirmed the find as legitimate and the contest was over.
The afternoon was spent continuing on to Elephant Island. The fog became thicker and thicker as we got closer only to lift and expose the sheer cliffs and glaciers that make up the northern side of the island. We had arrived at Point Wild, the temporary camp for many of the unfortunate but hardy Shackelton expedition. The story is an incredible one. As the leader and a select few made their way 800 miles to South Georgia for help and rescue, the rest lived along a narrow spit of land underneath their overturned small boats. They did this during the Austral winter. We had a touch of winter ourselves. The conditions were very favorable so we put all our zodiac down for a tour amongst the ice and glaciers of the point. Towards the end of our cruise snow began to fall and then it fell even harder and faster. We realized just how cold this environment is when the snow, upon hitting the ocean surface, created a white sheen because the ocean was too cold to melt it. We marveled at the subtle tones of blue ice and grey skies against black rock with the occasional group of squabbling penguins. It was a spectacular introduction to the white continent.
