Sunday, November 5, 2023

2023 Back to Antarctica - Days 4-5 Drake Passage / Briefings at Sea


After three busy travel days, I was glad to have a couple of slower paced days. We’re crossing the Drake Passage, roughly 600 nautical miles from Cape Horn to the Antarctic peninsula. It is notoriously fickle. We’ve hit it during a good spell, with pronounced but gentle swells. Now, Sunday evening, we’re passing a well-spaced parade of big icebergs and the occasional whale. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be in Antarctica.

The MS Roald Amundsen is a hybrid-powered polar cruise ship which launched in 2019. It has an ice-strengthened hull, qualifying as a Polar Class 6 ice ship. Can cut through year-old sea ice up to 5 ft thick.) Although it has a capacity of 530 passengers (a little less for Antarctica sailings), we’re sailing with just under 200. It’s partly due to the beginning of the season, partly to reduced bookings since COVID. For us, it’s a great thing. Easier to get to know some of our fellow travelers. Plenty of restaurant seating. No competition for facility access. And inexpensive cabin upgrade options (which we decided to take advantage of). 


My cabin - leaving Ushuaia

We’ve spent these two days attending the many required or optional briefings provided by the Expedition Team. And bundling up for brisk laps around the running track on the top deck. 

Everyone who wants to go ashore in Antarctica had to attend the IAATO briefing. The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators provides guidance designed to preserve the largest wilderness area on the planet. Seven of the world’s most vulnerable species live there (skuas, seals, petrols, penguins, etc.), and international cooperation is key to protecting them. Every ship in Antarctica that carries more than 12 guests is a member of IAATO. Guidelines cover  everything from how many people may be ashore at one time to what they may not carry ashore (food, water, loose paper or plastic, etc) to procedures to prevent pathogens, new plant or animal life from entering the ecosystem. 

One of the biggest concerns this season is Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). The disease has spread from Alaska well into South America. The just-released protocols will reduce the likelihood of humans introducing the disease to Antarctica. However, it may be impossible to keep it out forever.  While HPAI can spread between several types of species, the principal vector is between birds. And, of course, birds migrate. Some, like the arctic tern and some skuas, migrate from pole to pole. Others migrate to Antarctica from North or South America. HPAI was recently found in the carcass of a Brown Skua on South Georgia Island. There is a high chance the disease will reach Antarctica this season.

The newest guidelines for human visitors include longer distancing from penguins and other birds (5 m, or 15 feet), and prohibitions of kneeling, sitting, or even crouching down to take photos. If someone slips and ends up on the snow, their clothing will undergo a special treatment to destroy any pathogens. (They’ve warned us this will leave a residue on clothing.) The staff ornithologists also have hazmat suits to deal with any suspected cases they may find. 

Everyone had to bring clothing / gear to a vacuuming station to remove seeds and any biomatter from belongings they plan to wear ashore. Velcro got special attention. 

According to the Expedition Team leader, they hope to offer everyone both a landing and a zodiac cruise every day. We’ll also have a couple of nature landings in the Falkland Islands. There are lotteries for three additional Antarctic activities: kayaking, snowshoeing, and an overnight ashore. We signed up for all the lotteries. I told Mark that if we have the opportunity to kayak, whether I actually go will depend upon what the regular landings are that day. I’d rather walk around chinstrap penguin colonies than just about anything.

This is the time of year when whales migrate from the warm oceans to Antarctica. They’ve spent several months in the warm waters, ideal for bearing their young. But the clear waters of, say, the Caribbean, do not provide food for whales. Like polar bears who fast for months in a den with their newborn cubs, the whales and their calves live off the fat accumulated over the previous winter. Once the young are well-launched, the whales head south. Both baleen and toothed whales come to Antarctica to feast, respectively, on krill and penguins.

We saw humpback whales during dinner yesterday, and several more breaching and tail smacking this afternoon. 

There are no trivia games or casino tournaments on the MS Roald Amundsen. Instead, there are destination-related educational seminars. We chose a smart-phone photography session, and presentations on glaciers formation and collapse, whales and dolphins, and penguins. 

Most exciting, we learned we’ll be part of the 16 passenger group who will (weather permitting) be camping on Antarctica tomorrow night. We attended a mandatory briefing this afternoon. We’ll set up our own tents, and be provided with sleeping bags with silk liners. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!



It snowed lightly this evening. Tonight it’s so cold one sees their breath. There is ice on the walking deck and Mark’s balcony. 







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