Antarctic Peninsula

Day 30 Palmer Station & Gerlache Strait

Antarctic Peninsula

Snow and sleet was coming down as we approached the Palmer Archipelago of the Antarctic Peninsula. This eased a bit as we pulled up outside Palmer Station on Anverse Island to receive a Zodiac load of young scientists, students and staff from the US scientific outpost. They would provide us with a lecture, Q&A sessions and commentary as we explore the bays and sounds in the area.

Out on deck the snow was accumulating, much to the delight of our crew, many of who are from Indonesia and have never seen snow. Watching them cavort and laugh was fun for us as well. They treat us so well that it is a reward for us to see them having such a fun time.

We planned to visit the Lemaire channel but it was blocked with ice so we headed off for Paradise Bay, circled Bryde Island, passed Browns Station, passed Gonzales Station. The afternoon was a flurry of physical activity for many of the passengers. While a few were content to sit and play cards, snooze in the library or take a chair in the Crow's Nest or the buffet dining room, many chose to chase scenery. With our onboard guests from the Palmer Station calling the moves like square dance callers, the active ones dashed from one side of the ship to the other, from bow to stern, and up and down companionways to catch glimpses of whales, sea lions, penguins, ice bergs, mountains, outposts, birds and other interesting items and to photograph each event. This wore me out to the point I could hardly raise my binoculars by late afternoon.

Penguins on islet

Browns Station

A couple of humpback whales

Penguins riding an ice chunk

another humpback

Ice outside Palmer Station

Word came that the Lemaire Channel had opened so off we went to see that. By the time we got deep into that the ice had closed again so we turned around and headed back North to the Bismark Strait and returned to Palmer Station. There was floating ice and pack ice off the station but we went in and the zodiac came out to bring departing students/scientists/staff and receive some supplies and the guide team that had come aboard earlier. (I think the guide team left the ship a few pounds heavier after we provided them with all they could eat.) The farthest South we got was 65° 01'S.

After dropping off the research team and picking up the departing research team, we worked our way out of the pack ice with lots of complaining from the ice. The bridge announced (we haven't heard from the Captain today) that we were going to add a channel to our route and go up the Neumayer Channel on the East side of Anvers Island. As it was starting dusk and we came to the narrowest part of the channel we dropped speed and stopped. Slowly the ship turned with the bow swinging past the ice cliffs. After 90 degrees we backed further into the channel then continued to swing the bow back to the way we came. At this point I noticed two other passenger vessels (MV Fram and MV Spirit of the Seas, I believe) also stopped at the narrows. As we retreated down the channel the Fram and Spirit followed. With the wind coming right down the channel at 34 knots, the channel must have become blocked with ice. We continued back down to the Bismark Strait and Lemaire Chanel where we were earlier (3 times) then turned East to retrace our earlier route up Gerlache Strait, a wider strait on the other side of the island from the blocked channel. By 2230 we were heading NE again still surrounded by ice, rocks, floating ice chunks (“Bergy Bits”) and what else went unseen in the snow and fog.

map from Antarctica Log Book -the ultimate journey

More information at www.usap.gov