RWSE Day 23: Zodiac Cruising & Landing

The weather never cleared enough for heli ops.

So, we went cruising amongst the pack ice … the seemingly-endless length of A76C our constant companion … giant bergs overshadowing Ortelius in size … bands of ice floes forming an ever-changing labyrinth that the zodiac drivers had to negotiate carefully.

We were with Allan, who shared many-a tidbit about the wildlife we were seeing around us. With years of experience in these waters, he’s not only a great zodiac driver, but also a fount of information and great story-teller.

It was cold and overcast, and more than a little windy. Light snow fell for most of the time we were out. But getting to spend quality time with critters that didn’t shy away from our presence made up for the weather.

A sleeping humpback whale was our first sighting. Then came fur, crabeater, and leopard seals … mostly alone … some in small groups … but in abundance … giving each zodiac a private audience. Here and there, we also had snowy sheathbills keeping company with the seals. And Antarctic petrels sleeping on an ice floe.

We were all set to spend some time with a large flock of snow petrels on an iceberg when someone spotted a leopard seal a little ways away. With the group more excited about that sighting, we left the petrels behind … a shame, I thought … but it didn’t stop me from taking a ton of photos of the leopard seal.

It sure is going to be tough to weed down the photos from this afternoon once I get back home and find the time to do so.

As we started to feel the cold more and more, Allan turned the zodiac toward an ice floe where other members of the expedition team were waiting to help us out onto its surface. It felt good to walk and get the blood circulating once again. From this vantage point, we had a better sense of the ice moving on the currents … the icescape in constant flux … the floes rising and falling on the waves. The ice felt alive.

Some of the passengers opted to return to Ortelius after a short while. We opted to stay on the floe … netting ourselves a photo op when EL Sara cruised by on a zodiac and took an impromptu group shot.

Eventually, we had to wrap up our four-hours in the pack ice … returning to the ship a roundabout way to see more critters and take a peek at some of the bergs.Læs mere