The South Sheltland Islands
The South Shetland Islands and another busy day for your friendly neighborhood Undersea Specialist. Morning, while the guests were ashore among the basaltic towers of the Aitcho Islands, found me diving on a mirror image of those cliffs where brilliantly colored sponges encrusted the rocks, much like the bright lichens of the world above the surface. Here and there among the cracks and crevices, delicate sea cucumbers like the one pictured spread their spider’s web of feeding tentacles, hoping to catch a meal from the plankton that buzzed around them like flies. My spider sense was tingling too, as I probed the nooks and crannies of the bouldery wall, and sure enough, here was a lovely nudibranch species I have never observed before, a delectable little treat for the video camera and another prize to add to our guests’ experience of Antarctic beneath the waves.
Afternoon found us in Mitchell Cove, along the western shore of Robert Island. This broad horseshoe-shaped bay, backed by a tremendous glacier, plunges to depths of over 500 feet near its opening to English Channel – a perfect situation for our ROV. The Remote Operated Vehicle is one of the most remarkable tools in our undersea exploration arsenal, an unmanned robot submersible designed to carry and maneuver a video camera in the lightless depths far below diving limits. Even Dr. Octopus would be jealous of this kind of gadgetry! Deployed in the center of the bay, the little machine flew down into the darkness, suspended from its cable like a spider dropping into the unknown on a single strand of silk. At 385 feet the bottom appeared at last, a strange scene never before revealed to human eyes, populated by brittle stars, worms, huge sea spiders and this strange snail. Or is it an anemone? Actually it is both: a snail whose shell is either covered by or very possibly replaced by the anemone! Quite a number of these pairs were seen as the ROV made its way over the bottom of the fiord, always with an anemone riding on the snail’s back and never any true shell visible.
Evening brought us to Greenwich Island and a beautiful after-dinner landing at Yankee Harbor. Here I dove again, hoping to find relics of the sealers who used this sheltered anchorage as a refuge from Antarctic storms over a century and a half ago. Swimming carefully over the soft silty bottom I could not locate any historic debris but found instead a rich community of tunicates, snails, worms, urchins, stars, nudibranchs and more. Though unexpected, this was a perfect finish to a richly successful day. Just as every different landing we make offers new encounters and its own special rewards, each site I dive and every dark seabed explored with ROV add to the experience of Antarctica’s marine wonders for the guests aboard the Endeavour. But there are limits even to sea-spider-strength, so now its time to curl up and get some rest before tomorrow’s adventures.
The South Shetland Islands and another busy day for your friendly neighborhood Undersea Specialist. Morning, while the guests were ashore among the basaltic towers of the Aitcho Islands, found me diving on a mirror image of those cliffs where brilliantly colored sponges encrusted the rocks, much like the bright lichens of the world above the surface. Here and there among the cracks and crevices, delicate sea cucumbers like the one pictured spread their spider’s web of feeding tentacles, hoping to catch a meal from the plankton that buzzed around them like flies. My spider sense was tingling too, as I probed the nooks and crannies of the bouldery wall, and sure enough, here was a lovely nudibranch species I have never observed before, a delectable little treat for the video camera and another prize to add to our guests’ experience of Antarctic beneath the waves.
Afternoon found us in Mitchell Cove, along the western shore of Robert Island. This broad horseshoe-shaped bay, backed by a tremendous glacier, plunges to depths of over 500 feet near its opening to English Channel – a perfect situation for our ROV. The Remote Operated Vehicle is one of the most remarkable tools in our undersea exploration arsenal, an unmanned robot submersible designed to carry and maneuver a video camera in the lightless depths far below diving limits. Even Dr. Octopus would be jealous of this kind of gadgetry! Deployed in the center of the bay, the little machine flew down into the darkness, suspended from its cable like a spider dropping into the unknown on a single strand of silk. At 385 feet the bottom appeared at last, a strange scene never before revealed to human eyes, populated by brittle stars, worms, huge sea spiders and this strange snail. Or is it an anemone? Actually it is both: a snail whose shell is either covered by or very possibly replaced by the anemone! Quite a number of these pairs were seen as the ROV made its way over the bottom of the fiord, always with an anemone riding on the snail’s back and never any true shell visible.
Evening brought us to Greenwich Island and a beautiful after-dinner landing at Yankee Harbor. Here I dove again, hoping to find relics of the sealers who used this sheltered anchorage as a refuge from Antarctic storms over a century and a half ago. Swimming carefully over the soft silty bottom I could not locate any historic debris but found instead a rich community of tunicates, snails, worms, urchins, stars, nudibranchs and more. Though unexpected, this was a perfect finish to a richly successful day. Just as every different landing we make offers new encounters and its own special rewards, each site I dive and every dark seabed explored with ROV add to the experience of Antarctica’s marine wonders for the guests aboard the Endeavour. But there are limits even to sea-spider-strength, so now its time to curl up and get some rest before tomorrow’s adventures.
