Arto's Blog

It was almost mid March and the short and busy summer season in Antarctica was coming to its end. Most of the animals had already raised their offspring and left towards warmer regions. During our last two days near the Antarctic Peninsula we could feel the autumn, both in the quietness of the nature as in the changing weather.

We landed on the small Paulet Island, still following the route of the Nordenskjöld expedition (also known as the Swedish Antarctic Expedition) 1901-1904. It was the first time in four years that the Bark Europa was able to do a landing there, having tried once every year. The snow at our landing site was coloured pink, from the guano of about a hundred thousand Adelie penguins which had nested there during the summer. Now they were almost all gone, with only a few penguins and other birds, some frozen carcasses and the smell left behind.

We saw the basic stone hut which had been built by the members of the Nordenskjöld expedition in 1903 after their ship sank next to the island. It was quite amazing to think how they survived the harsh winter inside that small pile of rocks almost without supplies. We climbed up the hill, which opened us a view over the shore and a small freshwater lake. The lake was already frozen and the ice was yellow in color, due to a rather large concentration of penguin pee.

From Paulet Island we motored a short distance to Petrel Cove on the Dundee Island, named after the Argentine station "Petrel". The station consisted of bright red buildings just like Esperanza we had visited a few days earlier, but it was smaller and there weren't any people around. We heard that the station had been mostly unmanned already for many years. Once in a while some research is conducted or at least craftsmen are sent to do maintenance on the buildings.

We walked a bit around and between the buildings and headed then for a short walk on top of the snow covered glacier next to the base. During the walk the wind started picking up and quite soon we found ourselves inside a small snow storm. We joked about being on a honeymoon in such a cold, windy and desolate place, and asked our Swedish friend Micke to take a photo of us. After that we walked back to the shore and were transported to the ship as usual in the zodiacs, zig-zagging between blocks of ice floating in the sea.

Early following morning we sailed west to Brown Bluff for our last landing on the Antarctic Peninsula. The snowfall had stopped, wind had calmed down, and shortly after landing even the sun came out. Yippee, finally a landing with sunshine! At Brown Bluff there were still quite a few penguins and seals around, and there were also interesting geological formations to see. A massive brown and black coloured mountain dominated the landscape, and walking closer to it revealed various volcanic features such as pillow lava rocks lying on the ground and black stones embedded inside a brown wall.

Right next to the volcanic rocks a glacier was reaching out to the sea. The 20-30 meter high wall of ice at the waterfront and blocks of ice scattered on the beach looked spectacular in the sunlight. We got some of our best penguin photos just before boarding the zodiacs — the sun simply made everything look shinier and friendlier.

We would have loved to stay longer, but the sunny landing at Brown Bluff was a wonderful goodbye to Antarctica. After lunch we raised the anchor and started first motoring and then sailing north-east towards South Georgia, a subantarctic island about 800 nautical miles away.

Early Monday morning 9th of March we left Hope Bay, where we had visited the Argentinian base Esperanza on the previous day, and headed south to the Weddell Sea. The plan of the day was exploration, trying to come as south as the ice conditions would permit. We were partly following the route of the Nordenskjöld expedition of the years 1901-1903, which reached the Snow Hill Island about 60 miles south from Hope Bay.

There were many different types of ice floating around us, from small pieces of sea ice to huge icebergs originating from glaciers and ice shelves reaching from the continent to the sea. Our captain Eric and the mate Elskarin, with the help of the crew members sitting at a lookout point high up the mast, carefully navigated through the icy waters, avoiding all big blocks but sometimes pushing through some smaller pieces of ice.

Around midday we started seeing some patches of blue sky and in the afternoon the sun came out. That moment everybody had been waiting for and cheerful comments were heard all over the ship. The weather had been good enough to go on land at every planned site but it had always been cloudy since the middle of the Drake Passage where we had our last sunny day.

Sunlight made the whole landscape around us look even more spectacular, with icebergs shining in white and various shades of light blue against the dark blue sea. Many put on harnesses and climbed up in the masts to have a view from higher up. The wind was just a gentle breeze, making it safe to climb and take photos from the various lookout points the ship offered.

Occasionally we saw seals and penguins on top of the floating ice, resting and enjoying the sun. Later in the afternoon, whales came to greet the ship. A group of humpback whales blew fountains of air and water drops high into the air and showed us their massive bodies and white and yellow colored tails. Orcas were looking for seals to catch and came several times to the surface between dives. Our guide Jordi explained us how to distinguish between different species and between male and female whales based on the form of their fins.

There were several sightings of whales during the afternoon and evening, so we spent a lot of time outdoors wearing all our clothes to cope with the below zero temperatures. At the end of the day, after a zig-zag of searching and following ice free routes we reached the southernmost point of our voyage, about 63 degrees 44 minutes south, next to the 11 mile long tabular iceberg called B-15Y. It was actually a piece of B-15, the largest iceberg ever recorded, a gigantic mass of ice which had broken off from the Ross Ice Shelf on the other side of Antarctica 15 years earlier.

The sea was far too deep to anchor, so the captain let the ship drift in the open water near the iceberg. While having dinner the sunset shortly cast a red colour on a line of far away icebergs, which marked the end of the marvellous day. During the night, volunteers worked shifts on watching the radars in the wheelhouse and the ice outside, to ensure that we wouldn't be hitting anything large enough to damage the ship.

From Deception Island our trip continued first slightly north to Livingston Island and then south towards the Antarctic mainland. There we visited the Argentinian base Esperanza, which was a small village of red houses including a school for children.

Hannah Point on the Livingston Island was our last landing on the South Shetland Islands. There, in addition to our daily dose of penguins and seabirds, we got to observe elephant seals, big, fat and cool creatures lying on the beach. They were moulting, which means renewing their skin, and during this period the seals simply lie several weeks on the shore waiting for the old skin to peel and the new one to grow. They don't move much, except throwing some sand over themselves and socializing with each other. The view, smell and sounds of a group of twenty elephant seals, each weighing up to four tons, was impressive.

From the South Shetlands we headed South-East, and after half a day and a night of sailing we arrived to the Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of the Antarctic mainland. Our next destination was Esperanza, an Argentinian research and military base located at Hope Bay, close to the tip of the peninsula. The visit was organized so that we had a chance to see the base and the people at the base got a tour at the ship — both parties were excited about the opportunity.

Esperanza is one of the very few places in Antarctica which is not only occupied by scientists but whole families, who even bring their kids along. They spend generally one year at the base, including the Antarctic winter. Then almost the whole staff changes and new group of families comes for the next year. The site is led by the Argentinian military, but the atmosphere was friendly and informal, more like a village than a military base.

When we landed with our zodiacs at the shore, there were already many eager locals, including probably all the children living at the base, waiting for a ride to the ship. We helped them to put on life vests and board the zodiacs, and then followed our guide towards the group of about twenty red buildings. On the way we saw the remains of an old stone hut built in 1902 by the members of the Nordenskjöld expedition, nowadays inhabited by Gentoo penguins.

We visited the local museum, which presented the history of both the base and the Nordenskjöld expedition, and the school which was very cute and cozy. The tour ended at the village hall, a larger space used for all bigger gatherings, also functioning as a post office and a bar. We met some people living at the base, had a cup of tea and sent post cards to our relatives and friends. The communication possibilities included a mobile phone network, allowing us to surprise a few people with sms messages from Antarctica. Some even succeeded in checking emails using the wireless Internet.

We spent one night anchored at Hope Bay, and I volunteered for one of the two hour shifts of anchor watch. The tasks were to observe that the ship won't start drifting (it does happen sometimes!) and that no icebergs will be blown towards us by the wind. This time there was only a slight wind and the sea was calm, no need to wake up the captain. Outside on the deck I looked at the lights of the base and thought of how it would be to live there, whereas the inhabitants were probably watching our ship out of their windows and wondering about sailing across the ocean.

A luxurious way to finish a day of hiking is to enjoy a hot bath. That's what we did on Deception Island after walking around the volcanic landscapes near Telefon Bay and visiting the huge Chinstrap penguin colony at Baily Head in the afternoon.

We came back to the ship for dinner and a short briefing as usual before all landings, then picked up our towels and headed back out on the deck. The crew was busy transporting everybody to the land with the zodiacs. On the beach just next to the sea water, steam was rising from the dark volcanic sand.

We got our ride in the second group of two zodiacs and when we arrived the fastest ones were already digging a hole in the sand. Surprisingly fast a long narrow pool was ready and filling up with nice, hot bathing water. Clothes off, hop in!

We had heard that the bath might be anything between chilly 15 and burning hot 70 degrees celsius, but we were lucky and had about 40°C, perfect for relaxing the muscles. Our pool wasn't very deep so we had to roll around a bit to keep the temperature constant on all sides of our bodies, but everybody fitted in and it was warm enough.

A dip in the Antarctic ocean was naturally a part of the full experience. That was easy to do, just get up from the hot pool, walk a few meters and the icy sea water was right there ready to embrace anyone who dared. A quick swim and back to the thermal bath, bliss!

Glen wanted to document his Antarctic swim and handed out his camera to Eduardo. Into the icy water, back to the hot pool, happy and warm again. "Oh no, the photo is really bad, you look like a ghost. You'll have to do it again!" What wouldn't a man do for a good photo — switch the flash on and back to the sea. Another swim, relaxing in the hot pool, how's it now? "Oh no, also this photo is bad, you look like a ghost again! I guess you'll have to do it again..." There was a burst of laughter from everybody around Glen who still didn't get his photo. But no worries man, you have enough friends who witnessed that you did your swim, even two times! :-)

After an hour of bathing we got out of the pool and filled it again with sand to look like we had never been there. Getting dressed in the cold evening breeze was quite chilly, but after we had our clothes on it was better again. Back at the ship the warm deckhouse and hot chocolate were waiting for us.

When we woke up and climbed up on the deck on the sixth day after leaving Ushuaia, we saw a landscape of rock, snow and ice with a row of penguins at the nearest shore. It was the Yankee Harbor at South Shetland islands, where we had arrived late previous night when it was already dark. We were at anchor and there were almost no waves so our seasickness was quickly gone. After breakfast and a short briefing by our guides Jordi and Eduardo, the zodiacs were launched and we were ready for our first landing.

As soon as we stepped on land, we were surrounded by more animals we had ever seen in any zoo — and here they were all in their natural surroundings. One of our first tasks was to learn how to deal with slightly aggressive fur seals. Here's the tactic: don't run, stop and raise your hands, try to look as big and dangerous as possible. That was enough to stop the attacks, after all the seals just wanted to guard their own space on the beach and were not otherwise interested in us. Most of the seals were calmly scratching themselves, sleeping or busy with other activities.

We enjoyed watching gentoo penguins going in and out of water, marching around and lying in the snow in various positions. It was late in the season and many had already left the colony, but there were still many adults and almost grown up chicks around. We also saw one chinstrap penguin in the middle of all the gentoos, a leopard seal and a Weddell seal. The cruel side of nature was also present: some penguins had not made it and were lying dead and frozen on the ground. Two skuas were having a feast on one of the bodies.

We came back to the ship for lunch, carefully cleaning and desinfecting our boots which was the standard procedure before and after each landing. The aim was to avoid introducing any foreign organic material in the Antarctic, and to avoid spreading diseases between different landing sites. During our lunch, the captain turned on the engines to move the ship to Fort Point, the site of our second landing of the day.

At Fort Point there were again lots of wildlife, mostly gentoo penguins and fur seals but also some chinstrap penguins and one solitary macaroni penguin. Our guides told us that Fort Point was one of the less frequented landing sites, perhaps therefore the penguins were coming even closer to us than at Yankee Harbor. As a general rule we were instructed to keep 5 meters distance to all animals, but sometimes they came closer to us. We climbed up the hill away from the shore to a "nunatak" a steep and high rock with a glacier flowing around it. From the nunatak we had a gorgeous view down to the peninsula. On one side of it, countless ice pieces were being washed to the shore, a clear indication that the water temperature was very close to the freezing point.

The following day we visited Deception island, which is actually the remains of a large ancient volcano. In a big eruption the main crater collapsed and sank, so the the island is like a giant horse shoe with a narrow entrance to the big sheltered bay in the middle. Some fresh snow had recently fallen on the dark volcanic ash, which made the landscape full of different patterns of black and white. During our first landing we walked around one of the side craters and admired the views. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy, on a sunny day the scenery would have been even more spectacular.

The second landing was a few kilometers walk over the rim to a point called Baily Head. On the top of the ridge we could see the shape of the island and the entrance through which we had entered the caldera. On the other side of the ridge near the sea, the snowy slopes were looking like they were dirty. As we came closer it became apparent that the "dirt" was tens of thousands of chinstrap penguins. Many of them were moulting, renewing their fur which they do every year. We spent quite a while watching and listening to the constant chatter of the penguins before heading back the same way we came. Thanks to Jordi we had a chance to take a look at the penguins through a 600 mm lens, 960 mm film equivalent when mounted to our camera.

Before returning to the ship we still had time to visit the ruins of an old whaling station, consisting of slowly rusting big tanks which had been used to store whale oil and a group of more or less collapsed wooden houses. After that it was time for dinner and a special evening activity, which will be described in the next post.