Well, we didn’t get up for
the Sunrise – luckily we did see the beautiful Sunrise over the Antarctic Sound
on our last trip. We were up at 5:30am to get ready for our turn at the
practice helicopter operations. Winds are very strong this morning, so
the helicopters were kept in the hanger instead of out on the helipad.
After four days at sea we
made to the Weddell Sea! This morning we made it to Copper Island!
This was definitely a huge step closer to the Emperor Penguins. The
satellite images show that our path is open and we are now headed to Snow
Hill! Fingers crossed that these good conditions hold and the helicopters
are able to fly today.
Conditions were good and we
made it to Snow Hill, this as far South as our Expedition team has made it in
several years. The ship “parks” by running into the ice – it is something
to see! As we were approaching Snow Hill we saw our first two Emperor
Penguins! It was too windy to fly, so they got out the zodiacs and we all
went for a boat ride. (it was nice to see that the expedition staff was as
excited as the guests) As we were getting close to the Emperors the ice came in
fast and trapped all 10 zodiacs. 6 zodiacs were able to make it out (we
were on one that made it out) the other 4 were trapped for almost two
hours. The ship had to break through the ice for them so they could get
out. It was crazy how fast the conditions changed! With all the
safety drills that we went through the last four days, they forgot to mention
that the zodiacs could get stuck in the ice.
This afternoon winds calmed
– The expedition leaders went out with the helicopter pilots to observe
conditions: Good news: the penguin colony is larger than they have seen
in the past – the bad news: the ice conditions are not good, too dangerous for
an ice landing. They started scenic flights to go see the colony. What an
incredible experience flying over Antarctica in a helicopter. We saw the
penguin colony and the baby Emperors… too far away to get good pictures.
Fun Facts:
- Antarctica is the driest continent
- There is a part of Antarctica that has no snow because the wind blows so hard
Casualty Report:
- I feel like I am getting sick, hopefully it is just a little cold and I can fight it off – or at least until we head back across Drakes Passage
- But we still have two iPhones
At least you got off the ship!
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