Port Lockroy, Lemaire Channel, Vernadsky Station
Night drifted into day with nary a star to shine. Only a dimming of natural light in the extreme latitudes of the Antarctic at the height of the austral summer let us know one day had passed into another. The sun shone brightly - a white-hot beacon low on the horizon printed upon a blue canvas stretched broadly above us. The ice-covered mountains of Brabant and Anvers Islands to the west and the Antarctic Peninsula to the east gleamed in striking vertical relief, stretching mighty and white into a cloudless sky. The day was going to be a stunner.
The previous evening the National Geographic Endeavour had embarked a contingent of personnel from Palmer Station, one of the United States three Antarctic research stations, on the southern tip of Anvers Island. For our new guests a small cruise outside of their seasonal working environment was a welcome little holiday reprieve, and offered all of us a chance to engage them informally about living and working in the Antarctic.
During the early hours our vessel moved north through the Neumeyer Channel en route to Port Lockroy, one of the most historically significant locations in the Antarctic Peninsula region. During the Second World War the British government dispatched a secret mission, code-named Operation Tabarin. Several small bases were established on the Antarctic Peninsula to report on enemy activities and provide weather reports. Base 'A' Port Lockroy was built on Goudier Island in 1944. After the war the base was handed over to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). From 1948 the base played an important role in scientific research, and was a key monitoring site during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957/58. In 1962 the base was closed and subsequently fell into disrepair. Recognized for its historical importance, a conservation team undertook the renovation in 1996. The base opened to visitors the following season, and is now staffed throughout the Antarctic summer by a field party. The base is small and capable of accommodating roughly half an expedition shipload at any time. It stands as a well-appointed little museum, which chronicles life in the Antarctic before and during the IGY, and houses a shop and post office. Upon completion of our morning excursion we embarked all three of Port Lockroy's station personnel to give them a tour as well. We now had members from two Antarctic bases on board. Such a move, a gesture of good will to be sure, was also totally in keeping with the spirit of cooperation that Antarctica fosters.
During lunch the Captain pointed our vessel south once again, this time to make a mid-day transit of the Lemaire Channel, probably the single most photographed location in Antarctica and a staple of any Antarctic Peninsula expedition cruise. Affectionately referred to as Kodak Gap, Fuji Funnel, or more recently, the Pixel Passage, a transit of its length is an expedition highlight. It is narrow and defined by Booth Island to the west and the Antarctic Peninsula to the east. Soaring sentinels of rugged, black rock guard its entrance and mark its borders. High-hanging cornices, ice falls, and steep glaciers break and offset the imposing ramparts and spill to the liquid-black waters below. We were all on deck and on the bridge for our passage.
After emerging from the confined waters of the Lemaire our vessel bore south and a bit to the east, finally anchoring in the heart of the Argentine Islands; we then Zodiaced ashore to Vernadsky Station, nestled in the heart of the small archipelago. Formerly the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Faraday Base, it was transferred to the Ukraine on Feb 6, 1996. Vernadsky is the oldest operational station in the Antarctic Peninsula area. The research station was first built on Winter Island (Base F) during the British Graham Land Expedition (1934-37). Permanent occupation started in 1947. The station on Galindez Island was built in 1953, when the earlier UK station (Base F) was moved a few hundred meters to its present location on Marina Point. The most recent expansion by BAS to the living and working facilities of the newer station took place in 1979/80. Under Ukrainian authority it stands as a formidable research outpost conducting cutting-edge science, and is maintained in almost-immaculate condition. As is this Eastern European country's penchant for tradition, following tours of the station all of us were offered home-brewed vodka in the station's brazier-adorned bar, the harsh bite to be slightly mitigated with a slice of orange dipped in sugar and coffee grounds. Our day concluded with a zodiac cruise among the tiny islets comprising the Argentine Island group. Icebergs, nesting kelp gulls (many with mobile young chicks freely exploring the areas around their nests in the warmth of the polar sun), rocks lushly covered in luminous emerald-colored mosses and hardy lichens, Weddell seals basking on fast ice, and the occasional curious leopard seal painted a picture of Antarctic life in the full throws of life-giving summer.
Night drifted into day with nary a star to shine. Only a dimming of natural light in the extreme latitudes of the Antarctic at the height of the austral summer let us know one day had passed into another. The sun shone brightly - a white-hot beacon low on the horizon printed upon a blue canvas stretched broadly above us. The ice-covered mountains of Brabant and Anvers Islands to the west and the Antarctic Peninsula to the east gleamed in striking vertical relief, stretching mighty and white into a cloudless sky. The day was going to be a stunner.
The previous evening the National Geographic Endeavour had embarked a contingent of personnel from Palmer Station, one of the United States three Antarctic research stations, on the southern tip of Anvers Island. For our new guests a small cruise outside of their seasonal working environment was a welcome little holiday reprieve, and offered all of us a chance to engage them informally about living and working in the Antarctic.
During the early hours our vessel moved north through the Neumeyer Channel en route to Port Lockroy, one of the most historically significant locations in the Antarctic Peninsula region. During the Second World War the British government dispatched a secret mission, code-named Operation Tabarin. Several small bases were established on the Antarctic Peninsula to report on enemy activities and provide weather reports. Base 'A' Port Lockroy was built on Goudier Island in 1944. After the war the base was handed over to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). From 1948 the base played an important role in scientific research, and was a key monitoring site during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957/58. In 1962 the base was closed and subsequently fell into disrepair. Recognized for its historical importance, a conservation team undertook the renovation in 1996. The base opened to visitors the following season, and is now staffed throughout the Antarctic summer by a field party. The base is small and capable of accommodating roughly half an expedition shipload at any time. It stands as a well-appointed little museum, which chronicles life in the Antarctic before and during the IGY, and houses a shop and post office. Upon completion of our morning excursion we embarked all three of Port Lockroy's station personnel to give them a tour as well. We now had members from two Antarctic bases on board. Such a move, a gesture of good will to be sure, was also totally in keeping with the spirit of cooperation that Antarctica fosters.
During lunch the Captain pointed our vessel south once again, this time to make a mid-day transit of the Lemaire Channel, probably the single most photographed location in Antarctica and a staple of any Antarctic Peninsula expedition cruise. Affectionately referred to as Kodak Gap, Fuji Funnel, or more recently, the Pixel Passage, a transit of its length is an expedition highlight. It is narrow and defined by Booth Island to the west and the Antarctic Peninsula to the east. Soaring sentinels of rugged, black rock guard its entrance and mark its borders. High-hanging cornices, ice falls, and steep glaciers break and offset the imposing ramparts and spill to the liquid-black waters below. We were all on deck and on the bridge for our passage.
After emerging from the confined waters of the Lemaire our vessel bore south and a bit to the east, finally anchoring in the heart of the Argentine Islands; we then Zodiaced ashore to Vernadsky Station, nestled in the heart of the small archipelago. Formerly the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Faraday Base, it was transferred to the Ukraine on Feb 6, 1996. Vernadsky is the oldest operational station in the Antarctic Peninsula area. The research station was first built on Winter Island (Base F) during the British Graham Land Expedition (1934-37). Permanent occupation started in 1947. The station on Galindez Island was built in 1953, when the earlier UK station (Base F) was moved a few hundred meters to its present location on Marina Point. The most recent expansion by BAS to the living and working facilities of the newer station took place in 1979/80. Under Ukrainian authority it stands as a formidable research outpost conducting cutting-edge science, and is maintained in almost-immaculate condition. As is this Eastern European country's penchant for tradition, following tours of the station all of us were offered home-brewed vodka in the station's brazier-adorned bar, the harsh bite to be slightly mitigated with a slice of orange dipped in sugar and coffee grounds. Our day concluded with a zodiac cruise among the tiny islets comprising the Argentine Island group. Icebergs, nesting kelp gulls (many with mobile young chicks freely exploring the areas around their nests in the warmth of the polar sun), rocks lushly covered in luminous emerald-colored mosses and hardy lichens, Weddell seals basking on fast ice, and the occasional curious leopard seal painted a picture of Antarctic life in the full throws of life-giving summer.
