Barb's Travel Journal: Antarctica, Page 4

Small Portion of a Tabular Iceberg

Weddell Sea

This is the place to see the giant tabular icebergs. Using the ships instruments and our own judgment we calculated the area of some of the largest bergs. The largest we saw, which the captain circumnavigated, we determined was about 1300 acres, or nearly a square mile. Because of their immense size, these bergs cannot be fully captured on film. I used a panoramic camera to photograph one. I had to be so far away to get the whole berg in the frame that it looks like a thin strip of land. We sailed for several hours among the icebergs. The snow/ice melt from the tops of the tabular bergs often caused large cascading waterfalls. We mostly saw crabeater seals sunning themselves on the bergy bits surrounding the mammoth tabular bergs, but we also saw Weddell seals.

Remains of Nordenskjold Stone Hut from 1903

Paulet Island

In addition to penguins, seals, birds and a crater lake, Paulet boasts the remains of a stone hut built by some stranded Swede explorers in 1903. The Nordenskjold party got trapped in the ice off of Paulet Island in the Weddell Sea during November of 1903. November is early summer, but that year the ice did not break up in the Weddell Sea. By January, the group had to abandon their ship. Nineteen men shared a 20x30, two room hut for nearly ten months before being rescued. One man did die. The rest survived on the penguins they slaughtered, stored and ate. Ninety years later, the Adelie penguins have taken over the hut and their nests are everywhere.

Point Wild, Elephant Island

This was the most challenging zodiac landing we made during the entire trip. Point Wild is named for the navigator on the famed Shackleton expedition. Shackleton was a British explorer who, near the turn of the century, planed an expedition to cross the Antarctic continent. The plan was to have two teams, one from the eastern side and the other from the west. The entire crossing would take two years. The first year would be used to lay supply caches. The second, the eastern team, with Shackleton in charge, would make the crossing. However, both teams had problems. Shackleton's team experienced the worst. They ran into an early winter storm and got stuck in the ice and drifted for months before finally abandoning ship. 

Marker on Elephant Island

They could not make it to Paulet Island, but were able to land on the north side of Elephant Island, which has harsh storms and no beach. The 27 men stayed there under their life boats for several weeks. Shackleton then took five men and headed for King George Island, which had a whaling station. They had only a sextant and a chronometer, which had not been calibrated in over a year, with which to navigate. They made it to King George, barely. Once there they had to completely cross the as yet uncharted island to get to the whaling station. 

A Chilean rescue team was assembled and the remaining 22 men on Elephant Island were rescued after living nearly five months under their life boats. A monument to honor the Chileans was erected on Elephant Island near the spot where the shipwrecked men holed up. 

While visiting the monument, we observed a family of fur seals. The male was very protective of his mate and pups and we gladly kept our distance. Although, the close quarters on the island made it difficult. When the tide began to come in we had to move quickly to avoid being cut off from the zodiacs and make a safe launch.

Visit these web sites to learn more about Antarctica:

'Seal & Penguin Coasts' is an exciting new development at the Bristol (UK) Zoo Gardens. The seals and the penguins are amongst the most-loved animals in the Zoo; the old facility that they lived in was built seventy years ago and needed replacing.

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