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Day
Three - 6th December - The Drake Passage, first icebergs, and first
sighting of Antarctica
Snow on the decks
It becomes markedly colder as you cross the Antarctic Convergence
(the demarcation between the colder waters of the Antarctic and
the warmer waters further north) and we awoke to a sunnier morning
with snow on the decks and slightly more sea swell. The temperature,
which had been gradually decreasing the previous day, had now dropped
below freezing to minus four degrees Celsius.
Talks
about Marine Mammals (seals and whales), Living and Working in Antarctica
and the History of Antarctic Exploration helped to heighten the
sense of excitement as we closed on the Great White Continent. Between
the talks (and meals) we continued to revel in our adventure, watching
the seabirds, looking out for whales and eagerly awaiting our first
icebergs.
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Blue
iceberg
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Icebergs
abeam
Standing on the ship's bridge, her stability was impressive as the
winds touched Force nine and occasional waves broke over her bows
creating rainbows in the spray. In the afternoon most of the 99
passengers came to watch in amazement as two huge icebergs appeared
on the horizon, some 17 miles distant, and grew ever larger as we
approached them over the next hour and a half.
When we passed abeam the sheer scale of the icebergs was quite awesome:
hundreds of yards long and probably 200 feet high it was like sailing
past the precipitous cliffs flanking two white islands.
As we approached the icebergs we were surrounded by large numbers
of seabirds including a stunning Southern Giant Petrel of the white
form, the all white Snow Petrel, and perhaps as many as four Antarctic
Petrels (the much rarer cousin of the Cape Petrels that had accompanied
the ship since we entered the Drake Passage).
Mount
Francais
In the evening we caught sight of the Antarctic for the first time
as snow-covered Mount Francais (over 9000 feet) on Anvers Island
glowed pink in the low sunlight. Already, it was easy to appreciate
that 98% of the Antarctic is covered in ice, and as we came into
the lee of the Antarctic Peninsula itself the wind (unusually blowing
from the East) dropped and the sea conditions calmed.
The scene was one of tremendous beauty and grandeur and, with no
other ships in sight, we had a real sense of privilege to be witnessing
it.
Day
4 - Lemaire Channel »
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