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26.02.2016: Day 14 - At sea towards South Orkney Islands
After the exciting day yesterday we surprised ourselves and got up even before the wake up call at 7-45am. After breakfast it seemed quieter than normal on board - we heard that some people were up partying until after 2am! We were on our way to Carol's Shackleton talk, postponed previously because of whale sightings, when we heard over the PA system that whale blows had been seen.
So Carol's talk was postponed a second time as everyone went out on deck to see the humpback whales. There were so many of them we were surrounded and didn't know where to focus our cameras.
They dived time and time again giving us great opportunities to see lots of flukes. They were also turning and flapping and we could hear the sounds they were making when they surfaced. Some even spyhopped as if they were checking us out! Kelvin had tried to count them and said there were 250 plus whales! A veritable whale soup.
It was only 1°C outside and we were getting really cold but didn't want to stop watching. Three whales came really close to the ship and then kept diving underneath and going from side to side. It seemed they were people watching!! Maybe they were drawn to all the shouts of "Ooh, Aah, Yes, and Wow!" that kept them swimming from side to side underneath us. Or maybe they loved hearing us all run from one side to the other and they were having a lot of fun with us!!
They were so close that the people with the huge mega zooms had to take them off and change to smaller ones. The whales also swam alongside the ship and were so close to the surface we could see their full length - about 16 to 18 metres long. One turned on its back and we could see the wonderful striated lines along its belly.
Unbelievable! Absolutely amazing! We spent 3 hours whale watching. Our hands were frozen, we filled camera chips and had to change them, and we used up all our battery power. So in the end we just had to watch.
The Captain was having just as much fun and was running across the bridge from one side to the other. After 90 minutes Jim and Ali asked him to continue sailing but he is the Captain and he obviously decided we were staying! Even Christian and Kelvin, who have been on numerous trips, said that they have never seen so many whales so close to the ship before.
We were already behind schedule because of the landing yesterday and trying to get a second landing by sailing back to Candlemass Island which was in the wrong direction. So we had lost about 8 hours and we might even lose a day in the Antarctic. But surrounded by all these whales that didn't seem to matter.
Poor Carol never got to give her talk. Just after the whale announcement, Jim said over the PA that Carol's talk would be postponed until 11am. Later he said Carol's talk will be postponed until 12 or 1pm or whenever we can fit it in! We were surrounded by the whales and I said "We surrender! We have to get to the Antarctic!" Maybe we should just postpone Ushuaia!
After 3 hours the Captain blew the ships horn which was the signal to the whales that we really had to go. One of the whales seemed to understand and flapped its fin several times on the water's surface as if to ask us to stay or even to wave goodbye!
Day 14: Humpback soup
We were half frozen and shivering when we went to lunch. We had white bean soup (not whale soup!) and then Turkey Hawaii with croquettes. We went back to the cabin to try and recharge all our batteries and check our videos and photos. I'm sure there was a run on the ships power system because everyone was probably charging batteries and there are 110 of us!
At 3pm we went to a talk given by Ralf Barthel who is German and our head Chef on board. It was very interesting to hear about the logistics of ordering enough food for a 22 day trip for 110 passengers plus 46 staff and crew, and how to store it so that it lasts for the duration of the voyage.
Over the course of this trip 10,500 meals would be prepared. Here are some of the facts and figures of the food items we needed:-
- 5,200 eggs (sounds a lot but is only 1.5 eggs per person per day)
- 500 litres milk
- 600 kg flour
- 2,200 kg meat and fish
- 3,000 kg fruit and veg (250 kg apples, 250 kg oranges, 850 kg bananas and will run out in 2 days!)
- 8,000 kg dry food (e.g. rice and pasta)
Some food is bought locally from Ushuaia which has been transported down from Buenos Aires but the work ethic is a catastrophe and there is no guarantee that you get what you order! So a great deal of produce is transported over from Holland where Oceanwide Expeditions is based including 18 tonnes of frozen meat and fish because the price and quality are better. That is enough to last for about 3 months.
They also pick up good quality fresh food from the Falkland Islands but we could only get half of what we wanted this time because two huge cruise ships had bought a great deal 2 weeks ago and there wasn't enough left for us!
They minimise waste in the kitchen by taking orders for the evening meals at lunch time otherwise all three options would need to be prepared for 75% of the passengers. We have a huge fridge/freezer which can store 24 pallets. There is a compactor for recyclable items that is then shipped off to Holland to be dealt with. We have a bacteria processor on board to deal with waste water and we use sea water which is filtered using two reverse osmosis machines and an evaporation machine. We use 30 tonnes of water per day but we also have 120 tonnes of fresh water on board in case the machines fail.
Used cooking oil is pumped out in Ushuaia and then disposed of. In the past sewage waste was pumped out from the ships, loaded onto another ship which then sailed out into the Drake Passage and dumped it in the ocean! Apparently it is dealt with correctly now.
It was a very interesting talk that many passengers had requested. Our final look at South Georgia took place in the late afternoon with a screening of a documentary about how the South Georgia Heritage Trust carried out the rat eradication project in South Georgia. The film really brought to life the reality of the complex logistics involved in working in such a remote environment for long periods of time, and how the dedication and skill of all the team ensured that the project had the best chance of success but I have to admit that my concentration wandered because there were a lot of frozen ice sculptures floating past us as we sailed!
Happy Hour started at 5pm to get everyone well oiled for the auction that started at 5-30pm. Ali had managed to scout around whilst at Grytviken to find various items that could be auctioned off and raise money for the rat infestation project. They still need 800,000 £ ($120,000 US) to ensure there are no more rats.
The auction was great fun and it didn't take long to work out who had money! Only a few of the Europeans made bids but almost all of the Americans took part. It was mainly Sally (a world famous diver) and Michelle (also one of the DUI diving group) who were very entertaining and constantly bidding against each other.
Ali did a very good job as the auctioneer assisted by Christian who carried the items around trying to ensure another bid from the passengers. There were 9 items up for grabs and at first look they just seemed like knick-knacks but each piece had a history behind it and the bids were being shouted out in rapid succession.
It was done in British Sterling which may be why it sounded so cheap for the Americans - you need to multiply by 1.4 to get to the dollar amount! Even though the starter price for each item was low the prices quickly jumped up and the 9 items ended up raising 2,450 £. The highlight came when Peter from Austria offered 550 pounds for Ali's "priceless" T shirt to round up the total auction amount to 3,000 £.
However, it was clear that the T shirt meant a great deal to Ali who begged him "Please don't do this to me!" The T shirts are not for sale and the Governor of South Georgia only gives them to people who have honourably served South Georgia. Not many are given out and, although we didn't know the background at the time, it was clear that Ali was really torn - give away a prized possession in order to raise more money?
I turned to Kirsten and said I might have to bid 600 £ just to give the T shirt back to Ali. Franz from Holland was sitting directly behind us and he raised his hand and offered 1,000 £! Ali asked him "Are you serious?" and when Franz nodded, she had no choice but to take off her T shirt (don't worry she had another shorter top on underneath!) and hand it over. She turned and went straight to the bar where we could see that she was crying!
We asked Franz and he said he was going to give her the T shirt back. He had obviously heard me saying I'd have to offer more and helped me out by bidding himself! He wanted to donate money anyway. Ali only had to endure 5 minutes of misery until Franz handed the T shirt back to her. What a super gesture.
The total mount raised was 3,450 £ - a very large amount for such a small ship!
Day 14: Auction on the Plancius
The dinner that evening really wasn't our thing - and after such a good talk from the head Chef to boot! I'd ordered the sirloin steak and it came very bloody, almost rare. I tried to cut off the outside pieces but had to give up. Once I'd removed the blood from the sweet potatoes I managed to eat those. Kirsten ordered the sweet and sour veggies with crispy vermicelli noodles which wasn't very filling.
But we didn't go hungry because there was Kaiserschmarrn for dessert which is a bit like pancake cut into squares with raisins and apple sauce ... I got three portions which of course I shared with Kirsten!!
We would be putting our clocks forward tonight but our exciting day hadn't ended yet. It was brought to a close with Storytime - Ali dressed up as Hans, the Flenser and read out a poem she had written herself! Super! It's on the video below.
Day 14: Ali's Storytime: Hans, the Flenser
27.02.2016: Day 15 - At sea towards South Orkney Islands
We both woke up with thick noses! Kirsten had a sore throat and I had a deep voice. Either we caught a cold from someone or we got too cold yesterday during the mega whale watching episode! I did room service and made us lemon and ginger tea from the bar and brought it down to our cabin.
At breakfast we were joined by Nicolette the ships doctor who is really funny and regaled us with stories from her life on board other vessels as a doctor. She's been on a lot of 5 star cruise ships and on one of them a passenger had forgotten to bring his heart medication. When he complained about the cost of having to buy it on board, Nicolette told him a funeral would cost more!!!
She's actually a very good doctor which I know because I had to do some translation for a German passenger during our trip who needed some treatment but she certainly has a wicked sense of humour! She made us laugh a lot whenever we talked to her.
The ship was still going on a steady course at eleven knots towards the South Orkney Islands. Outside, the ocean was calm, with no big waves, no whales and very few birds today. But there were nice blue skies, and at the horizon the first Antarctic icebergs came into view, and some were carrying passengers. Chinstrap penguins on an iceberg!
We laughed at Carol's announcement just before 10am over the PA system - "With some trepidation I announce my next talk. I have spoken to the whales this morning and they promised to wait until later." She managed to complete her talk without everyone dashing off in the middle but Kirsten did see a whale when she looked out of the window just as a southern bottle-nosed whale swam towards us. She told me and I just managed to turn and see it as it disappeared out of view and obviously went under the ship!
It happened so fast there was no need to disturb Carol's talk which was about the Scotia Expedition of 1902 - 1904, 'from one Scot to another', a historic tale of the Scottish expedition led by William Speirs Bruce, who discovered the Scotia Arc and established a research station in the South Orkney Islands.
After lunch there was a presentation from guest speaker Michael Lang, a passenger on board, about diving at the extremes of the earth. The talk was about all the dangers people can encounter under water whilst diving, why they can get into trouble, and how they can minimise the risk and what to do if something goes wrong.
I already knew that Australia has the most dangerous species on land but Michael told us it also has the most dangerous under water. Most shark bites are from Great white sharks but there are only 5 fatalities per year compared to 10,000 from lightning strikes and 6,000 from driving whilst texting!!!
I got us some banana cake at 4pm and at 5pm Kelvin, Ali and Henrik presented a talk about whales their biology, life cycle and food sources, and illustrated it with great images. Kelvin was overjoyed at the huge number of humpback whales we had seen.
Ali told us that there are approx 500 to 700 million tonnes of krill in the sea each year. Whales eat around 325 million tonnes per year, seals eat 130 million tonnes. There are also birds that eat the krill and the best feeding area is above the sea ice on the clockwise conveyor belt that moves around the Antarctic.
Finally Henrik compared the diving capabilities between whales and humans (no contest! The whales win hands down!) and showed us a great video of a diving chamber with a remote camera where a sperm whale came along to check it out.
Dinner was melon and ham starter, veal with Gorgonzola quinoa and green beans for Kirsten and I had steamed plaice with saffron sauce, spinach and tomato rice. This was followed by two helpings of lemon cheesecake. Tobias and Christian sat at our table and kept us entertained.
We had a late recap at 8-45pm and Jim told us about the schedule for the next five days. We have an early wake up call tomorrow 6-15am but then it will take 27 hours to get to Elephant Island. We will only get two days on the Antarctic peninsula because we were delayed at the South Sandwich Islands and by all the whales.
Back to our cabin I wrote the diary whilst Kirsten worked on photos. We just had time for showers but then had to get to bed.
28.02.2016: Day 16 - Shingle Cove on Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands
We got up at 5-45am, 30 minutes before our wake up call. It was sunny outside and we were sailing past a large tabular iceberg. I told Kirsten who got up and went out to take photos. We had a spectacular view of Coronation Island, part of the South Orkney Islands, with its mountainous slopes covered in snow and ice and glaciers spreading down to the sea.
We had sailed into Iceberg Bay - aptly named from all the icebergs dotted around. We dropped anchor and after breakfast we got into the zodiac at 7-30am to land at Shingle Cove. The sea was calm and we had no problem getting into the zodiac and the landing was easy as we got out onto rock slabs.
We had just over 3 hours there so we set off scrambling over rocks and ice/snow following a line of red flags between fur seals who had come out to greet us. We enjoyed wonderful views over the bay and also saw Catriona and Jeff taking a zodiac tour around the bay with Nacho. Unfortunately, Catriona had sprained her ankle on Day 4 and the rocky and icy walk would have been too much for her.
Shingle Cove - 360° Panorama
(move mouse over panorama and click on the arrows)
Up ahead was a glacier and Tobias carefully tested a route leading upwards. Kirsten decided to head down to the beach but I went for the glacier hike and ended up in a snowball fight with Thijs and Sava from the crew and Jana and Carolin! From here there was a sweeping panorama over the bay and its icebergs and the Plancius which looked very small out in the distance. Lots of photos were taken including some group photos but not by me because Kirsten had both cameras with her down on the beach!
Down below there was plenty of action taking place on the beaches. Elephant seals were gathered in numbers there, and young juvenile males were practising the fighting skills they would need in later life. Others were snoozing quietly either in little groups or singly, and in one spot above the shore was a heap of about a dozen adults, including quite large males, sleeping away their long moulting period. There was no sign of the Adélie penguin colony that is reputed to breed here, only a few single Chinstrap penguins standing here and there, looking rather small amongst all those seals.
We saw a lone Gentoo penguin but then it spotted other Gentoos swimming towards the beach. We watched as the single Gentoo rushed off to greet them. Cute!
Shingle Cove - 360° Panorama
(move mouse over panorama and click on the arrows)
On the way back to the ship we had a zodiac cruise along the bay to see the seals again and get closer to the photogenic icebergs. I was so cold I got a zodiac before Kirsten who forgot to turn her tag saying she was back on board. I told her about it and she went to turn it saving her the embarrassment of being called out over the PA system during lunch!
Day 16: Landing at Shingle Cove on Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands
I spoke to Carol, the historian, who told me she has been doing these trips for 22 years and has only been to the South Orkney Islands twice (they're not usually on the route with the Falklands and South Georgia) but this is the first time she's ever landed here because the weather was too bad for landings on the previous occasions!
We set sail for the long 27 hour journey to Elephant Island, our next destination. We sailed out of the bay and past more icebergs. We went outside to take more photos of the fantastic scenery despite the bitterly cold wind.
Lunch was chicken noodle soup, chilli tortillas with rice and lemon jelly - 2 for me!. After lunch we went back to our cabin, I did room service hot drinks and Kirsten worked on the photos. She missed the afternoons talks because she had so many photos to work on!
At 3pm I went to Carol's Shackleton talk which had been postponed numerous times because she is our resident whale magnet. So finally we got to here her presentation about the Endurance Expedition. As usual it was very informative but I'm sure you all know the story so I'll only mention some things you may not know.
After the dramatic rescue of the men from Elephant Island in 1917, they returned to England and had to go and fight in the First World War and a number of them were killed. So after all those months trapped on the island not knowing if Shackleton had successfully got them some help, they went to war!
The Antarctic crossing that Shackleton failed to complete was finally achieved by the Fuchs Expedition in 1957-8.
At 5pm I went to watch a really good episode of the BBC Documentary series "Frozen seas" which was shown in the restaurant. At Recap, Jim told us the plans for our time in the South Shetlands and the Peninsula, and Christian told us all about the way in which individual Humpback whales (and other species) are tracked and studied. The humpbacks have distinctive flukes and if you send in photos to www.happywhale.com you can find out if that whale has been photographed before, and if so when and where.
Evening meal was shrimp cocktail, pork with risoni pasta which was very good. Kirsten chose the pumpkin and feta cheese pie. With dulce de leche cream (a caramel cream) for dessert.
Finally, Catherine sent us all to bed with another Storytime. It was very short and only lasted 5 minutes about a walk she did with a friend in Dartmoor. They came to a river and her friend threw one of the rucksacks across to the other side but her throw was too short! The rucksack landed in the river and Catherine had to wade in to fetch it. Of course it had a sleeping bag in it which got wet. Catherine said she made her friend use that one for the night!
It had been another long day so we just went straight back to our cabin, had a shower and dived into bed.
29.02.2016: Day 17 - Cape Lookout on Elephant Island, South Shetland Islands
Our wake up call was at 7-45am and Kirsten woke up with a thick nose, sore throat and a much deeper voice! I fetched her a lemon and ginger tea to see if that helped. We didn't get to breakfast until 8-30am - it had started 30 minutes before and most people were already leaving!
We sailed past Clarence Island with its impressive glacier and snow field coming down the steep rocks. It's highest peak is around 2000m but the tops were covered by the clouds.
At 10-30am Tobias gave a lecture on the Geology of the Antarctic. He explained the basic concept of plate tectonics and how the Antarctic moved from the North Pole to the South Pole in only 750 million years. East and West Antarctic is divided by the Transantarctic Mountains and the western side has the oldest rocks - 4 billion years old. 97% of the Antarctic is covered by snow and ice up to 3km in depth which makes it very difficult to get information about the rocks underneath so the main research has been confined to the coastal areas.
Lunch was French Onion soup with cognac, tandoori chicken with rice and poppadums followed by vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and sprinkles.
In the afternoon we approached Cape Lookout, a 240m-high bluff on the southern end of Elephant Island. (Shackleton's men were rescued from the northern side.) The island supports an ice dome and several glaciers and is also home to moss colonies dated at more than 2000 years old, with peat nearly 3m deep. Ice cliffs fringe much of the coastline and nunataks - rocks projecting through the ice - are common. The shoreline along Cape Lookout is rugged and does not provide much shelter from oceanic swell rolling onto Elephant Island.
We put down anchor and a scout boat was sent out. Unfortunately we couldn't land due to strong currents but we could do a zodiac cruise. So we were split into two groups - the first went at 3-30pm and our group went at 5pm. Super - that means that our group got the cake which is always delivered to the bar at 4pm!!!
Our cruise lasted for 75 minutes and was actually better than a landing. We had a good laugh with the others on our boat and we could get up close to the dramatic scenery with fog rolling down one of the glaciers. We didn't get to see the leopard seal or the single Macaroni penguin that had been spotted by others but there were fur seals playing in the water and we saw Chinstrap penguins on a very steep, rocky face. Quite an achievement to get there! How on earth did Shackleton's men manage to survive here for 9 months?
As we sailed back to the Plancius we heard a call go out on the radio - the ships doctor was needed urgently at the gangway! Frode, one of the guides, had hit his head on the the gangway getting out of the zodiac and needed several stitches!
Day 17: Zodiac cruise at Cape Lookout on Elephant Island, South Shetland Islands
We got back just after 6pm and hung up our wet clothes as we had been hit by a lot of spray on the way back. Our gloves were very wet and also needed to dry out. Recap was at 6-45pm with information on the schedule for the following day which, hopefully would include a landing on the Antarctic - the seventh and final continent for us!
Dinner was a starter of hash made from chicken and oatmeal, followed by lamb with sweet potato and beetroot. The dessert was a yummy bread and butter pudding with custard - I got three!!!
