In Antarctic waters

Feb 11, 2015 Elephant Island: 61o06S/054o52'W

We crossed 60°S latitude overnight and this means that we are officially in Antarctica!

It has been a foggy day and we have been travelling very slowly. Although we have radar to pick up icebergs, it does not “see” the smaller chunks of ice known as “growlers.” These sit less than a meter above the surface & approx 9 meters below, and because they can be chunks of very old ice from glaciers, they are very solid and can do damage to ships. Our Captain is suitably wary.

We have been travelling to Elephant Island in the Shetland Islands. This is a desolate island with glaciers, rocks and penguins. Point Wild is the place from which Shackleton & 5 of his men sailed on the James Caird to South Georgia. It is also the place that he returned to, to save his men.

It was hoped that we’d see it, take a zodiac ride for a closer look, and maybe even land there. However the fog has been very thick, and there has been a strong swell.

As we approached Elephant Island the fog lifted enough for us to see Point Wild, take photos, enjoy the cold Antarctic air and re-learn a little of the history. But the swell made getting on and off the zodiacs unsafe, so we upped anchor and sailed away – enjoying the sighting of a Fin Whale soon after!

Tomorrow we plan to enter the famous caldera at Deception Island. Hopefully the weather will improve and we can land there.

Meanwhile I've had time to process more photos and enjoy a fascinating presentation on the geology and formation of the Antarctic Peninsula. And tonight they are screening Happy Feet – a definite change of pace from some of the other more doco-types of movies that we've been watching.

And yesterday, we had our first briefing for those of us camping out. We're not sure when this will be, but I'll definitely let you know! Stay tuned for more updates from the Antarctic ice!