We are near( ish) the South Orkneys and have only been through relatively thin and broken up sea ice so far, although we might encounter some thicker stuff later on in the cruise, in the Weddell Sea. This ship has a couple of tricks up her sleeve, which sound awesome, but I have not experienced: backing up and ramming at high speed; and pumping water inside the hull from one side of the ship to the other to create an artificial rolling motion to literally wriggle through thicker ice. However the Captain prefers to steer at a slower pace and pick paths through thinner ice and gaps where possible to avoid unnecessarily stressing the ship, which I suppose is sensible.
The sea ice here is teeming with life. Every time we stop to collect samples, hordes of small penguins seem to materialise and alternate between looking magnificent swimming and leaping over the water and comical hopping around on land. Today we also saw a couple of seals, swimming and sunbathing on the ice, and there are still a few birds following us in the air. Here’ s hoping for more whales soon!
A seal working on its sun tan @ Matthew Humphreys
News update – white birds as Matthew has explained we spent much of today either pushing through ice or sailing between drifting ice. The change of environment has lead to changes in the bird population with most noticably Snow Petrels appearing and glamorously posing for us.
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