Neko Harbor - Danco Island

Glacier Waves 

Tuesday January 1, 2008

It's getting difficult to come up with unique and descriptive titles for the journal entries. In a certain sense,  there isn't much variety to our routine here on (or off of) the Ocean Nova. Jill, the expedition leader, wakes us up around 7:30 to remind us to go to breakfast. Then about 9:00am, they start shuttling everyone off the ship in groups of 10-12 via zodiac boat to go on a zodiac tour or to go ashore for a couple of hour visit with the penguins and whatever other wildlife happens to be in the vicinity (typically seals, skua birds, and perhaps a whale puffing around in the harbor or bay that we're anchored in at the moment.  Everyone returns to the ship for lunch, the boat moves to a slightly different location for and afternoon excursion, and the process is repeated at a new venue. During the few hours before dinner we have time to wash up, have a drink and a snack, and catch a pre-dinner recap and briefing for the next day given by the various staff members. 

It might get boring after awhile, but the animals and the mountains and the ice and glaciers are always spectacular in a new and awesome way - another version of the astonishing Antarctic wilderness.  And in this week we are visiting such a tiny tiny fragment of the continent. Why are they showing us these particular islands and beaches of the peninsula?  We go ashore in the same places that the penguins can - the only places that have exposed rock to walk on and accessible beaches to go ashore on.  Those two requirements for us rule out the possibility of exploring the overwhelming majority of the islands and continental coastline around us - and likewise define the limited locations where and terrain upon which the penguins and seabirds can breed and nest. 

Tuesday morning's landing was a continental one - our second chance to set foot on mainland Antarctica, so most everyone on ship took advantage.  The ship anchored at the end of Andvord Bay, a 15-mile fjord that cuts about halfway through the 30-mile wide Antarctic peninsula. Anna, Lynn, and Geoff got ready to leave the ship sooner than Rolf & Tom, and were already ashore when a massive chunk of ice calved off the face of the nearby (un-named) glacier and splashed into the bay. The resultant shock waves rocked the Ocean Nova and sent a surge high up the landing beach.  The staff had seen this happen before, and had taken the necessary precaution of keeping everyone far up from the beach and keeping the zodiacs off the beach and in open water except for the bare minimum amount of time needed to load and unload passengers. It was a bit of excitement that entertained everyone and kept us talking about it for most of the day.

The Ocean Nova, anchored about 6-700 meters away from the glacier face in the background. When the glacier calved, the shock wave was about 3-4 feet. This gave the zodiacs in the water a nice ride, but the big ship barely moved at all. 

One of the best aspects of our morning visit to the mainland was a chance to climb a tall slope to a lookout rock. From this rock we had great albeit cloud obscured views of the mainland mountains and the shoehorn glacier terminus at the end of the fjord. 

Looking down upon the massive glacier,

and directly across at it from the shore.

Climbing up and down the hill - for the downhill trip, we eventually just slid on our rear ends.

The afternoon excursion was to another penguin and seabird breeding spot on a small island named Danco Island.  The weather was pretty lousy, so we didn't spend a lot of time outdoors - but we need the twice-a-day walk to clear our heads and sharpen our appetites for dinner. It's a bit of a hassle putting on all the snow gear and rubber boots, but once we're on shore and sloshing around with those silly little penguins, it always seems worth the trouble.

-Rolf