Elephant Island
As we awoke and scanned outside, we saw Elephant Island, lashed by heavy seas. Near the northeast end of the South Shetland Archipelago, this was the final opportunity for the twenty-eight members of Ernest Henry Shackelton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 – 1916 to land before being swept out to oblivion in the frigid Southern Ocean. They barely made it. Passing by Cape Valentine caused many of us to wonder how they managed, as waves crashed over the seemingly inaccessible rocks. Continuing on, National Geographic Endeavour passed Point Wild from a distance. It was here that twenty-two men spent four months waiting for a rescue that finally took place late in the Austral winter, on August 30, 1916.
In the wake of Shackelton, Worsley, Crean, McNeish, Vincent and McCarty aboard the James Caird, we set off towards South Georgia Island, about eight hundred miles to the east-northeast. What took them sixteen days, we hope to accomplish in two. While our adventure will be a bit less heroic and far more comfortable, it will be no less interesting.
Strong winds and following seas created ever-changing aspects for ocean watchers. Throughout the day, cape (pintado) petrels, prions, black-browed albatrosses and other seabirds rode the wind, performing aerial acrobatics. Naturalist Ian Bullock’s presentation about ice helped clarify our understanding of this fundamental aspect of the Antarctic experience.
After passing a massive tabular iceberg, we adjourned to the lounge where National Geographic Society photographer Gordon Wiltsie shared his amazing story: “Dancing on the Continent of Heroes: An Expedition to Antarctica’s Queen Maud Land."
As we awoke and scanned outside, we saw Elephant Island, lashed by heavy seas. Near the northeast end of the South Shetland Archipelago, this was the final opportunity for the twenty-eight members of Ernest Henry Shackelton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 – 1916 to land before being swept out to oblivion in the frigid Southern Ocean. They barely made it. Passing by Cape Valentine caused many of us to wonder how they managed, as waves crashed over the seemingly inaccessible rocks. Continuing on, National Geographic Endeavour passed Point Wild from a distance. It was here that twenty-two men spent four months waiting for a rescue that finally took place late in the Austral winter, on August 30, 1916.
In the wake of Shackelton, Worsley, Crean, McNeish, Vincent and McCarty aboard the James Caird, we set off towards South Georgia Island, about eight hundred miles to the east-northeast. What took them sixteen days, we hope to accomplish in two. While our adventure will be a bit less heroic and far more comfortable, it will be no less interesting.
Strong winds and following seas created ever-changing aspects for ocean watchers. Throughout the day, cape (pintado) petrels, prions, black-browed albatrosses and other seabirds rode the wind, performing aerial acrobatics. Naturalist Ian Bullock’s presentation about ice helped clarify our understanding of this fundamental aspect of the Antarctic experience.
After passing a massive tabular iceberg, we adjourned to the lounge where National Geographic Society photographer Gordon Wiltsie shared his amazing story: “Dancing on the Continent of Heroes: An Expedition to Antarctica’s Queen Maud Land."
