2023 Return to Antarctica - Day 9 Plan A, B, C and Ice Ice Baby

This morning we rounded the head of the Antarctic peninsula and headed south towards Plan A, Brown Bluff. The site hosts two penguin colonies: an Adélie colony of 40,000 penguins, and a Gentoo encampment with a mere 3,000 penguins. Their sites were still snow covered, but we didn’t get close enough to see how much activity was going on there due to swells and an abundance of ice at the landing area

As the landing was thwarted by high winds and ice we headed further south. It was a beautiful day, with impressive icebergs and a passage through last winter’s sea ice

With the warming temperatures of Antarctic spring, the ice had just broken up the in last few days. We navigated through a giant jigsaw puzzle of flat ice floating on gentle swells. These pieces are big, 20-40 feet across. Our timing was fortunate; it will disperse and disappear over the next several days. 

Our next landing site Snow Hill Island (Plan B) was also nixed, so the ship turned and headed back towards the Antarctic peninsula. Plan C was a possible ice landing.

An announcement from the expedition leader, Fred, (he said he used the emergency override so it played in all of the cabins) sent most everyone scurrying to the outer decks to see an Emperor penguin. It’s unusual to see them here; it was the second one Fred had seen in five years of Antarctic sailings. This one had gone into the water by the time we got outside, perhaps frightened by the ship. Then it launched back onto the ice floe with a belly slide and popped up for the photo op. 

We were satisfied with the day at that point, but the best was yet to come. We were in frozen Goose Bay, facing about six miles of sea ice. The expedition team went out on a zodiac to measure the thickness of the ice. Our ship is capable of breaking through sea ice up to 1.5 meters and their measurements showed it was <1 meter. An attempted ice landing was on! 

The ship proceeded to ram its way into the ice sheet - twice. Crew and passengers (equally excited) watched from the bow. Huge sections fractured off from the port side. Adélie penguins on these sections were unperturbed, just going along for the ride. 

The expedition crew assessed stability on the starboard side, and proceeded to drag a gangway from the ship to the ice. Mark’s room had a great view of the goings-on

The ice stretched on for about 6 miles to land. Large icebergs have been trapped in the ice since it froze 6 or 7 months ago.

The first group of about 50 people went ashore for 1/2 hour. I wish I had a photo; a group of about 40 Adélie penguins rushed over to inspect them. Some waddled briskly; several propelled themselves on their bellies. They were so fast! After a few minutes, they rushed back towards the open waters. It was adorable.

And then we got our turn. On one hand, the ship looks immense (though a fraction of the size of a typical cruise ship). On the other, we felt small and inconsequential against the scope of our surroundings. 

Hurtigruten encourages the crew to share in experiences when they travel. Our waiters and cabin steward all got off the ship. They were as excited to share an ice landing as we were. It’s not something that happens every sailing, or even every season. 

There was a little excitement getting back on the ship as the slab of ice that supported the gangway separated from the main icepack. 

The crew tried winching the pieces back together and even brought in a zodiac to push and keep them from separating further. 

We were herded back towards the ship and crossed the gap one at a time. By the time we got back to our rooms, only the crew was left ashore. 

Unfortunately, the other half of the passengers could not go on the ice. The crew tried a different landing approach using zodiacs, but the wind was gusting up to 70 knots. It must have been very disappointing to be suited up and not get onto the ice.

As unique as the camping experience was the ice landing has been the defining event of the trip thus far, truly a unique and beautiful day!