The Wonderful World of Ice

A day like today comes along once in a lifetime, and I am blessed to say today it was delivered to me on an ice platter.  As the day came to a close, I must admit, the big baby I still remain, more than a few tears of joy spilled from my Irish eyes.

The announcement from our expedition leader, Susan Adie, a brilliant woman who has devoted her entire lifetime to the study and preservation of the continent of Antarctica and whose great-grandfather opened the first whaling station here in the early 1900s, woke us up at 6:30 this morning, warning us that it would be an action-packed day and that if we pulled aside the curtains covering our portholes we would see a delightful surprise:  **SNOW!**  Of all the places on Earth that this shouldn't have come as a surprise, it would most certainly be Antarctica.  But snowing it was, and the passengers aboard the M/S Expedition were all immediately on deck celebrating, throwing snowballs and even a snowman was erected on the bow of the ship. It was the first snow we have seen on our voyage, and the sight of this Antarctic Manna from Heaven was only the first thrill of the day.

Following a typically delicious and hearty breakfast, over the loudspeaker came our second big news.  Susan said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the best of November is upon us.  From the bridge, the captain has just informed me that we have pack ice ahead!"  Pack ice, for anyone who does not know, is that polar ice that flows in it a unique "mosaic" pattern, generally made up of varying sizes but always in straight-line shapes, often packed so closely together that it appears from a distance like solid ice. To me, it looks as if nature has just laid out a puzzle from a box with all the pieces mixed up and scattered about on a tabletop.  Pack ice is found in early summer only in the polar regions after the solid ice sheets of winter thaw and begin to break up. For the next two hours, the ship moved along at a significantly slower pace, 4 knots - about one third our usual cruising speed - as the captain maneuvered through the maze of pack ice.  The Expedition, although not an "ice breaker" vessel, is built for conditions such as this and bravely marched forward following the small open cracks between the pieces called "leads" until we came to a point that the ice was too compacted that we were "garaged" – a maritime term meaning we could no longer move forward without endangering the hull.  The captain reversed our course until we could safely turn around and find another route through the ice to the destination we were expected to reach today.  The "best of November", according to Susan, meant that our cruise - the first of the summer season here in Antarctica - would be the only one to experience this type of ice flow this year.  It was absolutely spectacular, a breathtaking, special, timely and rare treat!

Pack ice is quite different from the true giants, the superstars and icons of the Antarctic region, the "tabular icebergs".  We were fortunate enough to see and sail a stone's throw away from hundreds of these massive, monstrous, towering behemoths as we entered the South Shetland Islands near the Weddell Sea.  Tabular icebergs are distinctly shaped with their rectangular, right-angles and flat tops like a table - thus named "tabular".  Some of them are as high as a 20 story building, and one that we were fortunate enough to skim by was estimated to be a half mile long according to the announcement from the bridge.  They are unbelievable. To see an iceberg this enormous left me speechless and scratching my head over how exactly I was going to describe them to friends and family back home.  But thankfully, a picture tells a thousand words. 

Once back on in safe harbor and out of the pack ice, it was time to hit the Mud Room and saddle up for another Zodiak outing.  Today, we were told, we were going to see Antarctica "up close" and zipped off in our small fleet of black, rubber speed boats off to see ice bergs and ice sheets at sea level.  First we had to navigate through a large area of "brash ice", which is the equivalent of ice gravel - smaller chunks of smooth, rounded glacial ice all mixed up in a soupy mishmash floating on the water. There are three kinds of brash ice; crystal clear like diamonds, translucent and milky-looking, and opaque, which is solid white. Mixed all together, it has the appearance of granite crystals, and when disturbed (by our Zodiak boats, for instance) it bobs and rolls in gentle waves.  Brash ice, in my opinion, is just as beautiful and fantastic as pack ice, and Matt, our driver, encouraged us to reach out, grab a chunk and sample what water 100 million years old tasted like. Of course, I had to try it and was surprised when I was the only person in our boat to took him up on the offer.  I tried the diamond variety. Delicious and clean! 

The rest of our Zodiak tour brought us past relatively smaller icebergs, some reflecting the polar light with a color of blue that I have no mortal vocabulary word to describe. It's been called "glacier blue" by some and is the deepest, most saturated - almost unearthly - blue my own eyes have ever seen.  It's only seen in crevices, small holes in the ice or from below the icebergs underwater. This color is another magic element found in the Antarctic. Many of these ice formations we saw had icicles that looked like beards, and we joked that those ones must be "really old" icebergs. Matt treated us to a special stop on an ice sheet where he "landed" the Zodiak onto the ice (two foot thick and probably 30 feet long by 15 feet wide) and let each of us get out to stand upon it and have our photograph taken. That was an offer each of us eagerly took advantage of, and we all soon realized that we were the only Zodiak team out of twelve that was given that special experience. Later, back in the Mud Room, we had to endure the jealous stares of the other passengers once word spread of our extra special treat.  How lucky am I to have a day like today?!  But the very best was yet to come.

After a hot shower and much-needed nap and another delectable lunch, another Zodiak excursion!  The Expedition dropped anchor in Neko Bay at the foot of a magnificent snow-covered mountain with a serene lagoon nearby and spectacular glacial cliffs in the background.  Truly some of the most gorgeous scenery imaginable!  As we approached the mountain, we understood why the expedition leaders had selected this site.  Ahead of us, covering the white snow on the side of the mountain were thousands upon thousands of black spots which we soon recognized as our cute, little friends dressed in tuxedos, our second penguin colony!  A welcoming party of dozens of Gentoo penguins greeted us at the shore as we disembarked from the boats, coming right up to us - within feet - curious and unafraid.  As I paused instinctively to snap some quick pictures, I suddenly stopped, put my camera down, knelt to the ground and wept quietly where no one could see me for a moment or two, maybe three.  It was the first time we had actually step foot upon the Antarctic Peninsula (all the other landings thus far were on the surrounding islands), and the profound magnitude of these first footsteps moved me to tears. My dream to someday come to Antarctica, which at one point I figured might possibly be impossible, had finally come true. They were tears of joy and gratitude, but they were also short-lived since the comical penguins always make me laugh with their unique waddling movements, flapping flippers and adorable faces.  Tears and penguins do not mix well.

I stood up again, composed myself and hiked up the mountain to an elevation of about 1,000 feet to the top of a ridge past countless pairs and groups of penguins – one of only a handful of animals that mate for life- who were trumpeting, courting, teasing one another, quarreling, resting and watching the line of human beings visitors respectfully joining them in their domain.  With no natural predators, they have no fear nor do not they run away, and we always give them their rightful right of way. Atop the ridge, we spent more than an hour soaking in the spectacular view of the bay, the lagoon, the colony, the glacier, the four avalanches that occurred and majestic Expedition waiting for us below.  To say it was "amazing" just isn't enough.  The scene was beyond that.

Back to the ship, we were informed that dinner this evening was to be of an Indian-theme, something that I am sure made Jyoti and Kishor and my new friend, Sudeep, happy. The serving staff all dressed in saris and kurtas, the men in Jajasthani turbans, we dined on curries, masala, aloo and chutney. Since Indian food is my favorite food in the whole world, it was the Maraschino cherry on my sundae of a day.

Like I said, a day like today…once in a lifetime!