Ahmet Erkun

While we were enjoying breakfast, the deck crew was busy preparing the zodiacs for a pack ice cruise … with a landing halfway through that came as a total surprise … on an ice floe no less.

With Ortelius surrounded by a belt of ice, our little rubber boat followed leads to get us into a band of open water. Spotting emperor penguins on several floes, Matilda drove us to one on which several of them were rafting. With the nose of the zodiac pushed up against the floe, and Matilda occasionally using her thrusters to keep us in position, the penguins were exceptionally tolerant of our presence.

The emperors were pristine. Having completed their annual molt, they were busy preening their shiny coat of new feathers. They also looked to be well fed. We were especially happy to observe this as it won’t be long now before they start making their long treks — up to a 100 miles over the ice in some instances — to begin the next breeding cycle at the colonies they will be forming on the fast sea ice.

At one point, we noticed that a group of people were on an ice floe with an Antarctic flag fluttering in the wind. There was quite a bit of ice between us and the people on the floe so we could not get a clear glimpse of the zodiacs that had been hauled up onto the floe. Considering our proximity to the Peninsula, at first I thought they were passengers from another vessel. But no such ship was anywhere in the vicinity … just our trusty Ortelius. It was then that we realized that we’d be making a surprise landing on an ice floe!

As the passengers already on the floe departed, others took their place. Eventually it was our turn. Revving the engine, Matilda sped towards the floe and got the zodiac’s nose up and over the edge of the ice. With the expedition team members pulling hard on the ropes, we were instructed to slide our way along the pontoons to disembark onto the ice. Can’t say that we did so gracefully, but we managed. Once everyone was off, the zodiac was hauled onto the ice as well to keep it safe. This had the added advantage that the engine could be turned off for a more serene experience.

After stretching our legs with a short stroll on the floe, we joined Tennessee. He gave us perspective on our landing by comparing it to the experience Shackleton and his men had to endure after their ship sank. Of course, they were on their floe much longer than we would be today … living on the melting and cracking ice-raft until it became untenable … hoping the currents would carry them north out of the Weddell Sea and closer to land.

We were taking photos of the scenery when two emperor penguins popped up out of the water and joined us on our ice floe. Soon there were three of them. Their curiosity had gotten the better of them and they had come to check us out. They gave us some delightful photo ops as they waddled around … including one with the flag.

After a little more than an hour on the floe, we bid our penguin buddies adieu and got back in our zodiac. Soon we were deeper into the fast-drift of ice floes, following narrow leads and pushing ice away to get into some of the tighter spots.

Our destination was a group of Adélie penguins molting on a floe that they were using as a raft. Paired up as we were with Allan and his zodiac group for safety, both drivers kept an eye on the movement of the ice, advising each other of open leads, and making sure there was a way out in case of an emergency. At one point, I thought we would have to give up on the Adélie encounter as the leads were getting progressively tighter. But the brute force of the zodiacs and the ice-driving experience of our drivers allowed us to persevere.

Unlike the emperors we had encountered throughout the morning, most of the Adélie’s were still in the midst of their annual molt. During the molt, penguins are not waterproof. Allan, in the zodiac next to ours, estimated that for some of the penguins we were viewing their ice-raft would be home for another two-three weeks. In the meantime, they would have to fast since they would be unable to feed. Those still molting sported some interesting ‘hair’ styles … mohawks were most prominent; some had natural ‘ear muffs’! Waddling penguins are often funny and make one smile … this group was especially cute. Curious, too … they approached the edge of their raft or walked up tiny hill-like humps to get a better view of us.

Difficult though it was, after about 30 minutes we left the Adélies to begin the journey back through the ice to Ortelius. Along the way, we stopped for photo ops with a snow petrel and a crabeater seal, and detoured to check out some of the bergy bits floating by on the currents. We got back to Ortelius to find it sitting in the midst of more ice than there had been when we left it shortly after 9:00a. With floes constantly drifting by, it was a bit more challenging to off-load the zodiac as the gangway had to be pulled up periodically to avoid ice-damage. Nonetheless, the ship’s crew and expedition team had plenty of experience and seamlessly managed the process.

An incredible morning. Incredible encounters and experiences.

And our day wasn’t even over yet.Les mer