RWSE Day 13: Plowing thru Pack Ice

“The continent has become a symbol of our time. The test of man’s willingness to pull back from the destruction of the Antarctic wilderness is a test also of his willingness to avert destruction globally. If he cannot succeed in Antarctica, he has little chance of success elsewhere.”
~ ~ Edwin Mickleburgh ~ ~ (from the Daily Program)

Oh what a beautiful day we had in Queen Maud Land! Antarctica treated us well on our first full day along the continent. I have 954 photos/videos to prove it … and that doesn’t count the ones I have already deleted.

Though sunrise is really early hereabouts — like 3:00a early — we leave the blackout shades cracked open. That means that we wake up a couple of times through the wee hours, check the time, peek out the window to see what there’s to see, and then continue to slumber until sometime around 5:00a or so … later if it is a day at sea.

We didn’t need bright sunshine to wake us up this morning … though there was plenty of that, too. Rather, it was the sound of Ortelius plowing its way through ice. Bang … clang … whoosh … silence … bang bang … whoosh … clang … silence. And so it went. We were in thick pack ice, with just enough leads … allowing our vessel to push the ice floes out of its way. We would later find out that we were in the vicinity of Norselbukta … a small iceport in the front of the Quar Ice Shelf.

(For the curious … an iceport is a “more-or-less permanent indentation in the front of an ice shelf, that can serve as a natural ice harbour” … though the possibility of calvings make them less-than-reliable.)

If the ‘we are in the ice’ noise hadn’t already propelled us out of bed and into our cold weather gear, glimpsing through the window a beautiful blue-green iceberg locked in the pack ice would have done the trick. We needed no further encouragement. By 6:00a, we were out on deck, happily clicking shutters as we wandered from one side of the ship to the other.

It’s not like this was our first time being on a ship in the midst of so much ice. But we have yet to tire of it! And if the sun is shining … and the wind state is calm … well there is no end to our pleasure then. Not even the cold temp — which was several degrees below freezing no matter whether you think in Fahrenheit or Celsius — put a damper on our glee.

So much more excitement to come …Baca lagi