Time 05:26, 62 degrees 34.35' South, 59 degrees 45.11' West, Air Temperature 3 oC, Water Temperature 0.7 oC, partly overcast and dry fog later, Wind Southeast force 5, Sunrise 04:52, Sunset 11.36.
Got up before 5am this morning to get ready for today's landing on Half Moon Island. The sea looked a little choppy but I assumed we would be going ahead. We were waiting at the doors to the gangway with all our gear on for the landing when there was an announcement saying that the landing had to be cancelled due to unsafe landing conditions. Some passengers were understandably disappointed at not getting ashore but passenger safely is paramount and getting people in and out of zodiacs that are bobbing about in a choppy sea would be difficult and potentially dangerous. The expedition team has been hit by the flu and many went back to bed for a few hours. Once I was up and dressed I decided to go up on deck until lunchtime and had a very good sea watch. Passing Nelson Island is amazing. There is a huge penguin rookery there comprising nearly 90,000 Chinstrap and 3,500 Gentoo Penguins and the tracks they have made in the snow up the steep climb from the sea are visible over a mile away. As we past I saw hundreds of Chinstraps in the water. As before we then passed the armada of huge Icebergs a couple of miles off shore, some of which I recognised from previous trips indicating that they are not travelling very far or very fast. Again, for me, taking in the scale of these amazing icebergs is very difficult. There was a lone Chinstrap Penguin on one of the smaller icebergs and using it to judge scale I conservatively estimated that if approximately four fifths of the iceberg is underwater it was at least 300 feet/95 metres in size. There was one tabular (flat topped) iceberg away out on the horizon and it was easily up to a mile (1.6 kilometers) in length and up to 100 feet /32 metres in height above water.
A giant blue iceberg off Nelson Island this morning.
This leads me nicely on to my guest blogger for today. He is Kevin Burke, our expedition team Zodiac Leader. Kevin has been a tour guide in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada since 1985. He has operated small vessels for viewing beluga whales, as well as tundra vehicles during the polar bear season. Kevin has served as expedition leader and lecturer in the Canadian Arctic as well as driving zodiacs in Svalbard and the Antarctic. He currently works for Parks Canada and is a member of the Canadian Rangers.
Kevin Burke, Expedition Zodiac Team Leader.
Kevin - My main job is to make sure that the passengers are safely transported by zodiac from the ship to our landing sites and back to the ship again and on zodiac cruising days. I am in charge of in-the-water operations and I will be in regular communication with the bridge and the gangway officers in case of any changes to our plans such as moving the ship to avoid icebergs, or if there is a rapid change in the weather requiring the safe and speedy return of passengers to the ship.
Getting passengers in a zodiac close to a Leopard Seal on an ice flow.
I am in charge of seven zodiacs and am responsible for ensuring that the zodiac drivers maintain the highest standards when dealing with the passengers. In Antarctic waters the most important thing that I have to be ready for is the rapid change in weather and ice conditions. For example navigating through icebergs and bergy bits (small icebergs – bits that have fallen off larger one) can be very tricky. Wind and strong currents can make even large icebergs move very fast. Also icebergs can break up causing unexpected waves. An area of water can be completely clear of ice at the start of a landing operation and can be dotted with icebergs and bergy bits within a short period of time. Katabatic winds which are very strong winds that sweep down from the Antarctic ice cap can blow up at a moments notice. The excellent safety record of the zodiac team on the Marco Polo is testament to the very high standards that we keep.
Every night our cabin steward Noel puts Kenny to bed with a mint chocolate on his pillow and a copy of tomorrows events programme for him to read.
Wildlife seen at Half Moon Island and on the Drake Passage heading north.
Mammals
Humpback Whale 6
Birds
Giant Petrel 6+
Grey-headed Albatross 2
Black-browed Albatross 7
Southern Fulmar 1
Cape Petrel 60+
Blue Petrel 100+
White-chinned Petrel 11
Wilson’s Storm Petrel 10+
Black-bellied Storm Petrel 40+
Chinstrap Penguin 300+ (off Nelson Island)
Antarctic Shag 2
Brown Skua 5+
South Polar Skua 20+
Kelp Gull 3
Antarctic Tern 20+
Note: A + sign after the counts indicates that we saw at least that number but more may have been present.
Time 20:10, 63 degrees 37.68' South, 61 degrees 11.84' West, Air Temperature 5 oC, Water Temperature 3.2 oC, Wind Southwest force 1-4, partly cloudy and dry, foggy earlier.
