Onwards to Peter 1 Island
Friday, 11th December - Stonington Is & Marguerite Bay: I’m on the Bridge early as we come into the southern part of Marguerite Bay, near Stonington Island. This is my 2nd landing here, but because of the snow cover, quite different to the last. This time we’re able to go inside the building used by the British Antarctic expeditions in the last century.
We had the helicopter briefing last night – we were not sure whether we’ll be landing by Zodiac or helicopter at Stonington --- Zodiac it is. With Cheli “driving” we meander through the ice and icebergs, seeing Crabeater seals out on the ice – we’ll have a closer look on the way back.
Stonington is quite small and easy to get around. The “back” of the island faces a very active glacier – we hear a small “calve” and see the ice falling into the sea. A Weddell Seal tries to haul itself onto an iceflow, changes its mind and tries from the other side of the flow. It’s successful this time, but then decides to slide back into the water.
Our Zodiac ride back to the ship surprises a Crabeater Seal lying in a flat area of a small iceberg. Further on, a group of 6 are lying on a floe, stretching & rolling while watching us.
We’re back on the ship for lunch, and soon moving to the northern end of Marguerite Bay to search for Orca (“killer” whales that are members of the dolphin family). Bob and John are scientists with NOAA. They have given us fascinating lectures on their research on Orca behavior – as part of their work, they tag and track Orca via satellite. They’re hoping to find amongst the ice in the northern end of the Bay & tag them – it would be great if we can track them while we’re here.
The clouds are lifting and the sun is shining. I’m on the bow, and we’re now seeing the Antarctic in all its glory. Huge mountains rising out of the ocean, separated by large glaciers gradually moving to the sea. Cormorants and petrels are flying passed the ship, and with the sun not too high in the sky, the light is wonderful for taking photos, many, many photos!
Around 4:30pm, people start coming onto the bow. We’re nearing the northern end of the Bay, and there is more sea ice around that will attract seals and ideally Orca.
“Whales at 11 o’clock!” A pod of 3 or 4 are porpoising through the sea still quite a distance from us. The ship slows and turns to follow them more closely – they’re Minke whales, beautiful to watch. A second pod is ahead, but no Orca.
Off in the distance we see the UK research base Rothera, located just below a very large glacier; their bright orange icebreaker is heading out on patrol. Unfortunately we’re not going to be able to land – they are quarantining their staff to ensure they’re not exposed to swine flu (epidemic right now in some parts of the world).
Having not found Orca, we turn south, and then west towards Peter 1 Island, leaving the Antarctic Peninsula behind us. I sleep very well as the ship rocks gently from side to side through the night.
Saturday, 12th December - at sea to Peter 1 Island: We were expecting rough seas overnight, but they didn’t eventuate. On the Bridge at 7am, the sea is calm and weather clear with low cloud. We’re now 350 nautical miles from Peter 1 Island, heading WSW at 15 knots. If we stay on this heading and speed, we’ll be there at 5:00pm today.
Through the morning, we sail through a fair bit of sea ice and see the occasional iceberg. Norm (our resident geographer) gives a briefing on “Moving Continents” – fascinating, and lots to learn from him. The remainder of the day is spent watching the sea ice from the bow, and feeling the power of the KK as she pushes through it. We see seals on ice floes, and Antarctic Petrels flying around the ship, and of course icebergs silently floating by. Beautiful!