My morning of our last day in Drake Passage started early. At 04:35 my watch and anything that could move fell on me or the floor of the cabin. The more ‘interesting’ weather had arrived with a bump.
The ceiling of the cabin was illuminated by patches of sunlight reflecting off the waves.
Later over breakfast we shared a table with fellow passengers and agreed to all swap tables and sittings to eat together. Our dinner sitting would then move to 8 pm.
Our expedition voyage on Hurtigruten’s MS Fram would take us from Ushuaia to Antarctica, to South Georgia, around the Falklands and then onto Montevideo.
In the afternoon of Sunday 26th February we finally left Drake Passage and arrived at Antarctica. This was then our first sight of ‘the big white’, icebergs, whales, seals and of course penguins.
One of jackets had its main zip break. So it was back down to Deck 2 for a new one. This voyage was the last of the season and unfortunately all the medium and large jackets had now gone. Extra large it was then.
On the noticeboard above the lost and found table were the lists assigning passengers to ‘boat groups’. These would be our indication when to go down to Deck 2 to get into a Polar Circle boat for landings. Yesterday we had had our fittings for jackets by boat group and now we were again down there for our rubber boot fittings (muck boots). Everyone was to be loaned these rubber boots for the ice. In yesterday’s lecture it was recommended that these be worn with ‘thin’ socks. After we had tried on boots to get the size we needed it was then into the tender dock area to pick up our boots. These were then hung onto the pegs under our cabin number ready for the landings.
Outside the weather was closing in and there were fewer birds following the ship. From the bow I could see whale spouts, way away on the port side, visible above the waves. But too far away for the standard lens on my camera.
For the first time this voyage we noticed seats being reserved 30 minutes before a lecture started. Rather than towels the seats were reserved by a pair of woolly socks!
Photography in Antarctica
The next lecture was on photography for the voyage from the expedition team’s photographer, Esther Kokmeijer. Her lecture was on her photography, art and journalism especially around her art projects. She provided everyone with insights on framing images and simple settings advice. One of the pictures she had taken yesterday was of a bird following the ship from the stern. When compared to my efforts yesterday, I realised that I had to up my game and to sort out my settings for the challenge of getting sharp images.
After the lecture we were discussing editing pictures and speculating how Ester might have processed some of her images in Lightroom. On the next table in the lecture theatre we discovered was a fellow student off my recent OU/RPS digital photography course!
Passing a yacht in Drake Passage
We had been promised that if anything interesting was happening outside then there would be an announcement. Our first one was the appearance of a yacht tacking its way through Drake Passage on our port side.
The sea by now was getting rough and the waves were reported to be between 3 and 4 metres high. These are my images through our Deck 3 cabin window as I tried to capture the spray and waves.
There was a lull in the queues for the use of the vacuum cleaners in the lobby of Deck 3 and I cleaned all our clothes and camera bags. I had to sign a declaration that I had vacuumed what we would be wearing an taking onto the ice. While I was busy vacuuming standing up became more and more difficult and back in our cabin the waves were now crashing against the window.
Walking around the ship was now quite a task and some of the later mandatory briefings were postponed until later in the day. The buffet lunch was not well attended . Up in the Observation Lounge on Deck 7 the sea looked even scarier than through our cabin window.
Antarctica comes into view
There was an announcement that ‘promised’ that the sea would be calmer later as we approached Antarctica. Then later in the afternoon the rolling and pitching eased and through the spray on the forward windows of the lounge we had our first glimpses of the Antarctic peninsula dead ahead.
My first images were through the windows of the Observation Lounge – what a view! It was time to get layered up and get outside to see Antarctica properly. My first images were from midships on Deck 5 just by the door. The bow observation area was closed still due to the sea state. Getting images was a ballet, as each of us took pictures and then moved back to allow someone else next to the railings.
MS Fram was aiming for a gap and as we came closer the sea became calmer and calmer. Then there was only a slight swell and this was when I saw my first iceberg. As MS Fram moved closer there were lots of icebergs,
Lecture on penguins
We dragged ourselves away from the sights to attend an excellent lecture on penguins past and present. We were told about their annual cycles and more important of all which species we would likely be seeing. Quite a number of the species are endangered due to a combination of climate change and interaction with humans. This last danger is primarily in South Africa and in Australia.
“Many individuals are doing what they can. But real success can only come if there is a change in our societies and in our economics and in our politics”
Sir David Attenborough
From Simon Delany’s lecture
Our first whales in Antarctica
Back out on deck we went out on Deck 8 where it is possible to stand on raised steps to see better forward. There were whales now around the ship. From our first lectures aboard I knew that the challenge with photographing whales was to get a clear shot of a whale’s fluke. This would enable the whale to be possibly identified and to log where it was seen.
The first whales were probably a mother and a calf circling the ship. In the bay there were icebergs as MS Fram crept forward. Ahead we could see zodiac boats from another expedition ship following whales and as we watched the whales were breaching. Fram crept closer and closer to the zodiacs and the whales.
The best description of the activity on the steps would be a rugby maul or scrum. Everyone of us jostling for position as the whales moved around the ship.
I did get some images of flukes but not of any of the whales breaching.
These were my first penguins ,
and my first seals lazing on an iceberg.
Later in the afternoon we came close the other expedition ship and I was able to see their passengers both on the ice and in their zodiac boats.
Briefing on our first Antarctic landings
We had our first briefing about landings. The pattern would be that the evening before landings we would be briefed about the procedures for the next day. Just as important for us all we would be updated on what we could expect to see. We were going to land at Neko Harbour. This is one of the few places in the Antarctic Peninsula where it is possible to land on the Antarctic mainland. In the afternoon land we would land on Petermann Island at Port Circumcision. To get there we would pass through a channel with fabulous views.
The weather was expected to be sunny with little or no wind. We were warned that at Neko Harbour the glaciers would be calving and as the ice dropped into the sea this would cause waves. These waves might be very big so we had to aware on the beach of this danger.
Our first evening in the Antarctic
As we had switched to second sitting we had time to go back upto the Observation Lounge and watch as Fram moved through the icebergs. It was definitely time for a celebration drink of wine and Falklands beer.
Here’s another ship in the late evening that we watched as we sailed by more icebergs.
When I left the barman told me that he had just one bottle left of Rock Hopper form the Falklands and it would have been rude not to buy it and put it in the ‘fridge in the cabin.
Our new table on the second sitting was for six and it was a much more relaxed meal as the restaurant was not as full and we were not rushed to be out so the table could be set for the next sitting. The meal was brie, followed by a steak and then cheese cake.