Sea ice & more sea ice
Monday, 14th December - amongst the sea ice: It’s a good day to catch up on washing, reading, sorting the large number of photos and keeping this log up to date. Tonight is “Black & White” night, so I also need to work out what I’m going to wear. Some people are very inventive, making costumers out of their towels & various things they’ve found.
It’s a fun evening in the middle of the ocean far away from civilization. Along with 3 others, I see the really bad movie, Las Vegas, starring Cameron Diaz & Ashton Kulcher – don’t bother!
Tuesday, 15th December - icebergs in the Amundsen Sea: We’ve been reasonably free of sea-ice through the bright night, and the seas are fairly calm. Up on the Bridge at 7:00am, there are few people around. We’ve moved our clocks back one hour over the last few nights, and with another sea day, many are enjoying a sleep in.
Birds are flying around the ship, and seals are lying out on the ice-floes. We change course to avoid large tabular icebergs – otherwise everything is pretty much the same as yesterday, although a little colder – air temp is now -2oC.
I enjoy Norm’s lecture on glaciers, and help Virginia copy her photos across to a memory stick – then it’s time for lunch. We’re eating very well, and I’m looking forward to being able to walk further than around the ship and up to the Bridge on Deck 9! Hopefully we’ll be able to land at Siple Island.
But no. At the 4pm briefing, Shanes tells us that satellite images are indicating access to Siple Island is very difficult - trying to get in and out will add an extra day (& we'd lost one in Stanley). We’re now going to be at sea for another 4 days while we head to the Ross Sea!
I’m so very disappointed. One of the highlights for me was to see the Phantom Coast, but now we’ll also miss this since we’re staying well away from the coast. I’m not alone – many people are expressing their disappointment. But there is nothing we can do. And although it feels like we're on a very long cruise through sea-ice, we do have to remain flexible in these remote areas.
Before dinner I’m out on the bow and photographing what will be the last iceberg we see for 24 hours, and thinking “another 4 days means 7 days at sea without landing!”
Wednesday & Thursday, 16-17th December - still in the Amundsen Sea: The ship rolls a little through the “night” but this smooths out by morning. Visibility is low all day; there is now significant sea ice, few birds, few seals and no icebergs. We’re assuming that the icebergs are caught in the sea-ice that is yet to be broken up near the coast – it is still early in the summer season.
The education program continues, and the crew also provides us with a quiz that forces us out and about the ship. At least I get some exercise. But there is an overriding feeling that we still have another 3.5 days at sea - at least the seas stay reasonably smooth.
On Thursday we see icebergs again, and more birds in the air and penguins on the ice! The sea-ice is almost 10/10 this morning before breakfast (meaning virtually no open water), and the sun is trying to come out. Maybe it will be a bright afternoon.
Over lunch the ship slows down to allow us to get a close look at a Ross Seal lying on an iceberg. These are relatively few in number, so it’s a good chance to see a rare animal. She is very beautiful and oblivious to all the camera lenses pointed at her. Her flippers look like they’re covered in velvet. Occasionally she lifts her head & the sound of clicking shutters fills the bow.
We have an “International Dinner” this evening. Australia’s contribution is “Australian Corn Chowder” – none of the Aussies on board really see this as an Australian dish, but the food has all been very good, so no complaints!
Friday, 18th December: Apparently we had come to a stop during the early hours of the morning. At around 5am, the KK had tried to move through some older, thick ice, and was unable to progress. So the First Officer reversed the engines and then decided to go around this patch – I slept through it all!
On the bow we have another morning of sea-ice and birds flying around the ship. It’s snowing lightly, and after breakfast, having decided that I really need to do some exercise, I don my light outer gear and walk around the deck for 20 minutes, using the stairs between Decks 4 & 5 on each lap – it feels good.
The light remains gentle with monotones of grey & white. We’re making progress, averaging about 12-14 knots, but the weather remains gloomy, and there is a general concern that this might not lift when we get to the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf. Without good visibility, we’ll be unable to use the helicopters to get onto the Ice Shelf.
Mama Mia is playing in the Cineplex tonight – with popcorn and subtitles. There's lots of pent up energy waiting to be used - a sing-along is perfect! Some of the more conservative guests are surprised when we cheer each person as they enter. It’s a fun time tonight – hopefully no one was trying to sleep because we were all singing along with Meryl Streep!
Then it into bed at midnight, with clocks back another hour – we’re now 22 hours behind New Zealand.
Saturday, 19th December - close encounter with an Emperor (penguin): It’s 5:00am and the ship is not moving; it’s a total whiteout; no horizon. Virginia hears me moving around and encourages me to go up to the Bridge to see what’s happening.
The Russian First Officer tells me that we’re “garaged” in the ice. This means that they have driven the ship into the ice & stopped – we’re now drifting safely with the sea-ice; a good thing to do when the visibility is so poor (can’t run into icebergs). We’ll stay here until the fog lifts.
Keith, a wonderful man from the UK, who had polio as a child and who moves very easily around the ship using crutches, joins me on the Bridge. Then the Helmsman sees an Emperor Penguin close to the stern. We realize that we’ll get a much better view of this glorious bird from the stern on Deck 3. So down we go, getting extra layers of clothes from our cabins on the way.
The Emperor is approx 200m off the starboard side of the stern and quietly preening itself as we watch. Two more passengers join us, and soon after, some of the “tripod brigade” are assembling their devices. Photos, many photos of this single bird.
It feels as if we’re ensconced in white – it’s snowing lightly with not a breath of wind. Most of the ship is surrounded by white sea-ice; the only open water is behind us, and is the path of water that the KK left in its wake as it drove into its sea-ice “garage.” The penguin knows we’re watching, but is unphased.
I finally go back to the cabin to have a shower and warm up. Virginia returns a short time later to tell me that two other penguins have joined the Emperor. They’re Adelies, and have popped up near the water line of the sea-ice; so very cute as they waddle side by side across the ice.
Then they start walking very quickly and tobogganing towards us. I look at the water behind them and see a seal poking its head just above the water – could this be a Leopard Seal looking for a quick breakfast? It watches them for a while, then disappears. The Adelies keep moving towards the ship. The seal suddenly appears on the port side of the stern and pulls itself up onto the ice – it’s a Crabeater Seal, and is only interested in krill, not Adelies.
The light is changing now, and the horizon is starting to become visible. The KK's engines start below, and as the water churns and we back slowly out of our “garage”, the Crabeater drops quietly into the water and resurfaces near the penguins. The Adelies move quickly away, and even the Emperor takes to his belly, tobogganing as quickly as he can away from us. The seal continues to check where the penguins are by popping his head up as he swims along the edge of the sea ice.
As the ship finally moves away, we leave behind one surprised Emperor Penguin, two much smaller Adelies and one Crabeater seal. Hopefully the remainder of their day will be less stressful, and ours will take us to the Ross Sea Ice Shelf where, if visibility improves, we’ll be able to finally make a landing later this evening or early tomorrow.
And all of this has happened before breakfast!
Michael Clayton is playing at the Cineplex this evening. It’s always good to see George Clooney, so I watch most of this – and sleep a large part of the time as well. I’m now certain that every time I go into a movie or lecture in the Auditorium, I’m going to fall asleep for a part of the time – even when the information is riveting.
Having been stimulated by the movie, and seeing the light outside, I go the Bridge to see penguins on iceflows, and the power of the ship working through the ice. Bedtime is 12:30am, but since clocks go back one hour tonight, it’s really only 11:30pm!