This was a day to get bitten by the Polar Bug! We woke up to the most beautiful sunrise as we were cruising the southern parts of the Grandidier Channel, we zig-zagged with Zodiacs in a world of huge icebergs, we watched penguins and seals up close, we plunged into water near the freezing point, and we even got to step onto fast ice in the late afternoon!
During the early morning we had just reached Prospect Point, the southernmost point of this expedition: 66°00.7´ South and 065°20.4´ West (just slightly north of the Antarctic circle). Now we are heading north. MS National Geographic Explorer anchored just before breakfast at one of the Fish Islands. After breakfast a Zodiac cruise was offered. The sea was dead calm. From the Zodiacs we saw a colony of Adelie penguins, several Crabeater seals were hauled out on small ice sheets, and brown skuas, blue-eyed shags and Antarctic terns were observed. The many impressing icebergs caught our attention more than anything else. Skylar (8), our youngest passenger, liked what he saw.
“I knew that the icebergs were big, but I was surprised to see how amazingly shaped they can be – like arches, towers and all kinds of forms.”
“And the two Adelies on the ice berg were pretty cool, too!”
At dinner I asked Skylar what was his greatest memory of the day.
“The Polar Plunge!,” he replied. Holding hands with his father, Skylar was among the bravest folks on the ship, jumping into the cold Antarctic water from a Zodiac.
“I had a go-pro on my chest, and the cold water stung,” he said.
What else did you like today?
“It was cool to see the ship pushing into the flat ice and I really liked the barbecue on the ice.”
Skylar´s father, Chris Rainier, is the National Geographic Photographer on this trip, and I also asked him about his impressions of being here.
“The combination of light and color of Antarctica is so special. Today I was touched by the turquoise, blue light and the majestic icebergs. One of the icebergs had the shape of a church. Antarctica is a very spiritual environment, regardless of your faith, and this white, remote continent reminds us in this overcrowded world that there are still a few places that evoke that sense of isolation and adventure. If you took another step, you would end in oblivion. I think that is what draws us to such precious places over and over again.” And Skylar wisely added: “We should leave no more than footprints in the snow of Antarctica!”
After dinner, Bob Pitman, a senior whale researcher, rounded off the day with an amazing video on killer whales and also showed some incredible photographs from his own research on killer whales in Antarctica. What a day to remember! And there are many more to come. Stay tuned…
