Antarctica: Dallman Bay & Gerlache

Day 1 of Antarctica cruising …

Woke up to rain — which, on closer examination, turned out to be snow. Fog and wind. And cold 🥶

Hmmm! “Where is the better weather conditions that brought us to Dallman Bay?” I thought. After all, that’s what Stephanie, the leader of the expedition team, had given as the reason for heading further south than originally intended.

Of course, this is Antarctica and the weather is known to turn on a dime. We know this from experience. So, we grabbed a bite to eat, bundled up in our layers, and went up to the outside decks on 10 and 11 to roam about see what we could see.

Which was actually quite a bit. Icebergs floating by on the currents. Bergs bits and growlers bobbing on the water. Glaciers and mountains partially hidden by the fog. I took what is for me a limited number of photos since the distant scenery was pretty much socked in. But the nearby icebergs made up for what we couldn’t see in the distance.

In terms of wildlife — Antarctic fur seals, whales, Antarctic terns and fulmars on the wing, gentoo penguins … both rafting and porpoising. I took a few snapshots of the critters, but I have such a large collection of photos of them from expedition voyages to the area that I am opting not to focus too much on trying to capture wildlife images on this cruise. “Enjoy their presence and the setting around me” … that is my motto for the next several days.

One of the more delightful aspects of the morning, actually, was seeing the crew playing in the snow. For many, it was their first time encountering this type of precipitation. Seeing their almost child-like glee as they ran around the pool deck having snowball fights, taking photos to share with family back home, writing their names or messages where they found a bit of accumulated snow. It was terrific fun.

With what Stephanie described as the “atmospheric mood” of Dallman Bay not looking like it was going to clear up, the decision was made to leave and check out another spot. To do so, we had to cruise down the Gerlache Strait for a bit.

The conditions weren’t much better … at first.

And with that teaser, I’ll wrap up this footprint …Læs mere