This morning we tried to navigate the Lemaire Channel – a few km long but only 600m wide passage between the main peninsula and Booth Island with towering mountains on either side.
The area is best described as an iceberg graveyard because as the icebergs are blown up from the south they get stuck in the narrowing channel that creates a natural bottleneck.
However, for the first time on this trip, luck was not on our side. As we progressed with painstaking speed the pack ice looked more and more impenetrable. Through the binoculars we could see skyscraper-sized icebergs that blocked the southerly opening. We sat on the bridge watching as the Captain took charge. He persevered until the last 400m of the channel and then decided we could go no further; we were forced to turn around. The new plan was to head to Hidden Bay.
At the entrance to Hidden Bay is Cape Renard – a double peaked mountain each about 1km high. It is also affectionately known as Una’s Peaks – named after the secretary to the British Antarctic Survey. Upon seeing the enormous symmetrical mounds you felt as if you met the lady yourself…
Una’s Tits (as it’s affectionately known) in all their glory
We anchored and launched the zodiacs for exploration of the bay. The objective was to find some seals but none were to be found, although we did see a Gentoo penguin or two. The highlight by far was the incredible scenery so we drank it all in as we cruised through the bay. Disappointingly, we found out at lunch that another team did manage to see a few leopard seals.
Getting a sense of the scale of the ice bergs with our huge ship in front of it
Conditions in the Antarctic change rapidly and as we made our way back to the ship, we realised that we had ventured into an ice field that was quickly becoming congested with bigger and bigger ice blocks. We slowly had to pick our way out of the sea ice and after a few bumps we made it back to the ship.
A very bumpy ride back to the ship
Although neither of us were particularly hungry we sat down to lunch. Not five min later an announcement came over the PA: “Antarctic Orca off the starboard bow”. The dining room emptied quicker than a teenage boy hides his browsing history when mom needs to use the computer. Everyone headed to the outer decks. I decided to leave the camera in the room and just enjoy the spectacle. There were two pods of 4-6 animals in each that were swimming along with the boat. It was simply mesmerising to watch the grace and speed of these giant killers. After this morning’s bleak showing, this is simply the highlight of the trip to see Orcas in the wild. It must have been an hour of watching (and at some point quickly grabbing my camera) before the snow and cold drove us back indoors.
The shop was not going to let opening times get in the way of an Orca sighting