Friday, 30 January 2015 (part I)
In the Ice — Ross Sea
Current Position: 76°05’ S / 166°38’ E
Temps: 32F (0 C) @ 6:45a (UTC +12)
Distance Since Ushuaia: 4,195 NM (4,827 miles / 7,769 km)
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.
H. G. WELLS
An early morning today — with pre-breakfast pastries and coffee in the bar at 5:45a; and the first passenger group scheduled to fly ashore to visit the Nimrod Hut at Cape Royds — popularly known as Shackleton’s Hut — at 6:15a. According to the posted list, our two-person Group H was estimated to fly last at 7:25a. Well, the snacks were in the bar on time, but everything else lagged a while. No matter, we had a gorgeous day and enjoyed the sunshine on the bridge deck.
On Expedition Day 22 we visit Cape Royds before Ortelius turns its bow north.
In hindsight, we had time for breakfast at 8:00a, but we opted not to change out of our layers and go to the dining room. Besides, a close encounter with a minke whale surfacing next to the ship has priority over food in my book :-) I would have missed the whale if not for Captain Ernesto urging me over to the bridge wing from where I was standing on the other side of the ship. He’s quite the enthusiast for the region and the wildlife, and it’s not unusual to see him popping out with his camera to take photos when he is not otherwise engaged. Nice to see his enthusiasm for the area has not diminished over the years. The same thing can be said for the expedition team. Despite repeated visits to Antarctica, they have not grown blasé and their enthusiasm is infectious for a polar aficionado like myself.
The Minke surfaces for a breath of air before diving under the ship and disappearing.
In addition to being the site of a historic hut, Cape Royds also happens to be home to the southernmost Adélie penguin colony. The choppers had to take a roundabout way via Backdoor Bay for the shuttle service to shore so as not to fly over the penguins … they apparently have a habit of craning their heads back to watch choppers and fall over when they lean too far back ;-)
Taking a roundabout way to get to Cape Royds — the point in the distance —
to avoid flying over the penguin colony and causing distress to the birds.
The extent of fast ice blocking the landing site for zodiacs is why we are flying this morning.
I wish there was some way to provide perspective for the size of these giant bergs that
are frozen within the fast ice. You’ll just have to take my word that they are huge.
Once on the ground, we got our marching orders from Don and headed off towards the hut. To get there we had to traverse .2 miles (250 m) over fragmented black scoria and volcanic debris. There was a slight elevation gain, but not enough to cause grief to anyone. With visitors to the hut limited to eight at any given time, we were in no hurry, taking our time to stop and enjoy the scenery along the way.
Like a Jack-in-the-box, Mount Erebus keeps popping into view at sites around McMurdo Sound.
From an overlook we glimpsed several Weddell seals hauled out a considerable distance from where the ice edge met the waters of McMurdo Sound. Were they stranded there by the sea ice that blew in over the past few days? Or did they arrive there with the sea ice? A question that only they could answer, but we didn’t climb down the hill to query them.
Can you see the four Weddell seals hauled out on the ice? No? …
… Here’s a closer look at three of them.
When we arrived at the hut, there was no one else around — fellow-passengers were more interested in the penguins than the history represented by the hut I think. No matter, we had it to ourselves for a while and got to look into nooks and crannies we might have otherwise missed had we had to rush through. Prepared to leave after our time was up, we ended up staying quite a while since others showed up in drips and drabs and we didn’t have to leave to maintain the eight-visitor limit.
In addition to Shackleton’s Hut, Cape Royds is home to the southernmost
Adélie penguin colony, part of which is visible as we approach the site.
One photo of the hut, and I’ll move on with the rest of the story.
The hut was built for the 1907-1909 British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition led by Shackleton.
This small pond, which is near the hut, is where the ponies were tethered — hence, Pony Lake.
We spent so much time in and around the hut that we didn’t have time to walk around Pony Lake to the main part of the colony. In this instance, I did not regret it. We have seen Adélies many times already, and have one more chance to do so before we leave the region. The likelihood of returning to the hut, on the other hand, is nil. So dallying there was a better use of our time. We still managed to get our penguin fix by taking a short walk behind the hut.
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Penguins will chip away at snow as a source of water.
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South Polar Skuas
Although the South Polar Skua primarily feeds on fish, it is not above …
… pilfering eggs, and even chicks, from penguin colonies.
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It was near the colony that I found and photographed a flag that looked curiously out of place. Alas, we were running late for our return flight, and not wanting to be like so many others who purposefully disappear to lengthen their time on land and thus throw the whole schedule into disarray, we hurried away. In the process, I promptly forgot about mentioning the flag to the expedition team, which was busy locking up the hut. I later showed my photo to Gill and Don. It turns out the flag has no place being there and would have been removed by them had they seen it. I should have pulled it up and taken it with me, but the injunction against removing items was too ingrained to consider doing so. No permanent damage done, though. Don will alert visiting scientists at the nearby stations to be on the lookout for it so that it can be removed. And he will make sure it is gone when the ship stops at Cape Royds when Ortelius returns here in February for the second and last expedition of the season.
Someone obviously didn’t think that the “leave nothing behind” rule applied to him/her.
We exceeded our allotted 1½-hour limit by half an hour — but only because we could still see others who had arrived earlier than us still wandering around, and thus lost track of time. We were back on the ship around 11:00a, fulfilled by our activities but quite hungry since we had skipped breakfast. When I mentioned to Michael that I was starved he was quick to advise that lunch had been moved up since so many had missed breakfast. In the meantime, he suggested there might be some apples at the reception desk, and yes there were — chocolate bars as well … a staple of early explorers ;-)
Could it be the prospect of all this ice we have to transit through that has …
… Captain Ernesto looking so intense as he sits watch on the bridge?
Mother Nature continued to treat us to a beautiful, calm day as Ortelius began its northward course. We enjoyed it by going on deck after lunch, even getting a glimpse of Mount Terror and Mount Byrd along with Mount Erebus. While the latter has remained visible for much of our time at Ross Island and McMurdo Sound, the other two only today threw off their cloaks of puffy clouds.
Ice and sunshine … perfect conditions that invite us to spend time on the outer decks.
As the afternoon progressed, we started finding ourselves in heavy ice bands once more, dotted here and there with stray emperor penguins … or the tracks they make as they travel around this icy domain in which they live. Pans of ice — a mix of first and second year, packed close together, necessitated very slow speeds and frequent small adjustments to the ship’s course. As much as we enjoyed the sights and sounds as the ship slowly navigated through the ice, the bridge team must have been hating it … there’s always the concern of getting stuck or hitting a band of ice too thick, or too packed to move around.
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These interesting markings are left behind by a tobogganing penguin …
… not unlike this emperor penguin that is rushing out of the ship’s way.
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The ship is on course to Cape Hallett where the initial plan was to do a zodiac cruise at the Drygalski Ice Tongue. Those plans have since changed due to ice conditions. Instead, we are now hoping to do some heli flightseeing bright and early tomorrow morning. Time to head to bed and get a good night’s rest.
Penguins, penguins everywhere! Think I'll join you and head to bed for a good night's rest. ;- )
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