Gerlache Strait, Errera Channel, Danco Island & Lemaire Channel
After last night's stunning sunset with its glowing tints coloring the mountains and icebergs, some of us decided that the sunrise might be worth checking out as well. The only problem was that with sunset at this latitude happening at 10:40 PM, we had little time to sleep before sunrise was upon us at 4:39 AM. None the less, dawn found the ship sailing South through the famous Gerlache Strait with a rapidly growing number of us out on deck as sun beams came through the clouds and lit the tops of the snowy peaks.
Here we were in country explored by the first expedition to over winter in Antarctica in 1897-99 – the Belgica Expedition lead by Gerlache. The landmarks around us bore the names bestowed by these early explorers (as we learned in a lecture by Steve MacLean this afternoon). After pausing to watch some humpback whales for a little while, the Captain turned the ship out of the picturesque strait into a narrower passage called the Errera Channel. Here we made our first stop at an island called Danco, also named for a member of the Belgica Expedition. The protected waters of the channel allowed some of us to take to the kayaks and paddle among ice floes, while others made the trek up past colonies of gentoo penguins to the summit of the island, 600 feet above the sea below.
From the summit, we were rewarded by a stunning 360 degree view of Antarctic splendor. On one side were the mountains and glaciers of the Arctowski Peninsula, part of the mainland of Antarctica. On the other side was a large island called Ronge with hanging glaciers perched on its steep slopes. In between, we could see out into the Gerlache Strait and beyond.
Following this invigorating stop, we were back on board and spent the middle part of the day cruising through the narrow passage called Paradise Harbor, and then on south toward the Lemaire Channel. The journey was not without a few distractions however.
First we paused to get a close look at a towering iceberg that had a huge hollow in the middle with its own turquoise blue pool of water. Then, as we emerged into a wider body of water, whales were spotted ahead. This time, it was a pod of killer whales and a humpback, right together. Since killer whales are the absolute top predator of the sea, and can take on even much larger whales, we had to investigate what was going on. As we approached, however, we became the subject of curiosity for the killer whales. They cruised over and even passed just under the bow of the ship. The killer whales didn’t seem to be paying attention the humpback after all, but we had some excellent views of these beautiful animals, the largest member of the dolphin family.
Finally reaching the imposing Lemaire Channel in late afternoon, we were reminded that we were in Antarctica after all, and the weather could be very wintery even in mid summer. As snow swirled, the ship passed through the towering cliffs that line the channel, turned the corner around Booth Island, and the Captain neatly parked the ship with the bow touching against a huge iceberg. Here we had time for one more outing by Zodiac, touring through a maze of icebergs, each one a unique and fantastic shape, with close views of a very curious leopard seal who kept popping his head out of the water to look at us.
Back on board for recap and dinner, it continued to snow as the Captain steered the ship even further south, heading ever deeper into Antarctic waters. After this very full day, it was almost a relief that the snowstorm gave us no chance of a sunset tonight. We could go off to bed without fear of missing anything!
