Blogs from Antarctica - page 6

5. Almirante Browns Station Paridise Harbour Antarctic Peninsula We woke to a beautiful day with glassy water. We have been so lucky with the weather. Again, it was out in the zodiacs so that we could explore Brown’s Station, an intermittently operating Argentine research centre in summer. It began life as a single refuge hut in 1947/48 at the time when Britain and Argentina were competing with each other to determine occupation as part of their territorial claims. It was developed into a year-round Argentina naval meteorological station in 1950/51 and continued in the role up to 1959/60 when I was closed. It reopened in 1964/65 as a scientific station operated by The Argentine Antarctic Institute. A marriage took place on the station in February 1975. Operations at the station came to an abrupt end on ... read more

Wednesday – Monday 13-18 February: DAYS 12 - 17 / SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS AND ANTARCTICA PENINSULA This Blog: Day 12/13, 13&14 February Around 60 miles off the coast of the Antarctic mainland we found the South Shetland Island chain. 1. Active Sound in the Antarctic Sound Pushing on past the islands, on Wednesday morning, we woke to the announcement that it was 0.5 C degrees with fine weather. Out our window we saw lots of ice floating in the water and islands around us, some covered in ice and others of dark volcanic treeless peak. It was starkly beautiful. After breakfast, we rugged up, went outside to take some photos then got ready for a 9.00am launch into the zodiacs. As the wind was strong, we stayed in the zodiacs in the morning for almost 2 ... read more

Monday morning found us through the Antarctic Sound and into the Weddell Sea. It is here that we expected to see the large, tabular icebergs. However, once again there was a lot of fog around and we hadn’t seen any yet. The morning’s excursion was to Paulet Island and another Adelie penguin rookery. This one, though, was absolutely huge. As we lined up to board the zodiacs, the sun came out and I had to run back to the cabin to get my sunglasses. However, we could see the fog rolling in across the water, so it was debatable if I needed them. The zodiac ride to the landing site was a long one, through lots of small icebergs and sea ice. Obviously the large ship would not have been able to get closer because of ... read more

After an amazing first day in Antarctica on Friday, I was looking forward to another such day on Saturday. As we had been unable to change locations overnight because of the campers, the first excursion was a little bit later. I used the extra time to go and have a look around the bridge. While up there, I saw some humpback whales off the starboard side, so I headed out to the observation deck to get some photos. Being up high, the photos turned out a bit better than the ones on the zodiac. Soon enough it was time for the morning’s excursion at Orne Harbour. This was to be our only landing on the Antarctic continent, so I was definitely not going to miss it. I can’t remember how it happened, but it ended up ... read more

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. (1923-29) Pygoscelis papua The sun was shining over Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the local name for an eight peaked mountain range behind Jougla Point on Wienke Island. We were watching gentoos and cormorants on their nests with their newborn chicks, a beautiful sight of mid-summer Antarctica. On our way back to the Zodiac we were confronted by a boundary - a great army stood in front of us. We couldn’t get by. A line of gentoo penguins stood stubbornly in our way. I ... read more