January 4

Days 9-10  At Sea

Enjoy informative and entertaining lectures from our expedition team and learn about the wildlife, history, and culture of the places that you will visit on the voyage.  You may want to use the sauna and jacuzzis, stay active in the gym, or borrow a book from our well-stocked library and relax in one of the many observation areas on board the vessel.

One last planned stop before we set out on the 800 mile journey to South Georgia.  The overnight sail wasn't very rough at all, and our hope is that we will stay out in front of the storm all the way to SG.  We took a bit longer than planned, though, as the ice pack that changed our plans coming into Antarctica is still there and we had to go around it.  We're approaching Elephant Island now.  Lots of evidence of whales - Fin and Sei, apparently - but just seeing spouts and no bodies.  Visibility has stayed poor since last night, so we can't see much up high on Elephant Island.  It's much bigger than I expected, and with all the glaciation and rocky shores it's easy to see why Shackleton had a hard time finding a place to land.  



Elephant Island - the historical significance of this remote, ice-covered island is that it was the refuge for Shackleton's crew (for 4.5 months) in 1916 while Shackleton and a few others took a lifeboat to South Georgia to get help.  The only lasting evidence of their stay is a bust of Captain Luis Alberto Pardo which was placed to celebrate the rescue of the Endurance survivors by the Chilean vessel Yelcho.  




There were quite a few rather large icebergs about.  The flat nature of these probably indicate that they are tabular icebergs, which are massive flat-topped steep-sided icebergs that break off from ice shelves, probably in the Weddell Sea.



It is a special treat to get to land here.  Apparently conditions do not often allow a landing or even a zodiac ride.  We got both.  The landing was very brief.  One boat at a time; we landed, took a few pictures, and returned to the zodiac to make room for the next group.  Before we even anchored the ship, we could smell the penguin guano.  Mostly chinstraps, although there were also sightings of gentoo, macaroni, and adelie.







We were pretty lucky with the weather.  A snow squall was moving in just as we got back on our zodiac.


Even the penguins don't have an easy life around here.  Big hill to climb to get to their nests.  


Back on board........  Gym, shower, lunch, laundry.  Then a South Georgia briefing.  Lots to look forward to there.  And biosecurity checks and cleanings to make sure we're not transmitting anything from Antarctica to South Georgia.  Then a lecture on glaciers and it's time to eat again.  BTW - we're eating really well on this trip!  We seem to be making good time.  It's still really foggy out, but at least the sea is pretty calm.  Pre-dinner update....... the captain has issued a rough seas warning for tonight; don't leave anything loose that can fly around!  And as a last task tonight I re-read the Elephant Island landing section of Endurance.  I'm simply speechless............


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