Paradise Harbor—It was an unusual summer season along the Antarctic Peninsula. I’ve been more than a two dozen times during the past 15 years and this year there seemed to be more of everything, particularly ice, rain and snow. When we found ourselves chased to the north due to westerly winds blowing sea ice towards shore—thus putting us at risk of being ice-bound, ala Ernest Shackleton and his Endurance—we ended up spending a few days stuck here, in one of the most beautiful anchorages along the Peninsula. Even though it seemed to snow or rain much of each day, the visual highlights were many. Click through to see some of what we saw.
(Photo: Courtesy of Jon Bowermaster)
Blasé Seal
Here's a yawning leopard seal, seemingly bored by us even though we were just a dozen feet away.
(Photo: Courtesy of Jon Bowermaster)
Penguins Everywhere
We saw tens of thousands of penguins surfing in and out of the cold sea, similarly oblivious to our cameras—and us.
(Photo: Courtesy of Jon Bowermaster)
Nature's Arch
Lone icebergs the size of small houses float through the bay all day long, unloosed from the rocky seafloor, headed eventually out to sea. Sculpted by wind and current, many have arches drilled through them; they're like windows into another world.
If you pay rapt attention, eventually you’ll see a glacier calve here, since the big bay is rimmed by a 200-foot tall glacier wall. Though given the amount of wet snow this year, the booming sound in the near-distance is just as often an avalanche high in the mountains as ice falling into the water.
(Photo: Courtesy of Jon Bowermaster)
Endless Peaks
I’ve often compared the coast of Antarctica to Alaska, though multiplied by a hundred. If it seems like the snowy peaks that line the Antarctica Peninsula go on forever, it’s because in some respects they do. From where we were anchored, it would've been a nearly 4,000-mile walk to the opposite side of the continent.
(Photo: Courtesy of Jon Bowermaster)
Solitary Penguin
We saw solo penguins like this one, instinctively getting ready for the long winter just around the corner by studiously cleaning their feathers.
(Photo: Courtesy of Jon Bowermaster)
Wired in the Wild
One thing we have that Shackleton and his peers did not was relatively easy access to the outside world. When Sir Ernest sailed away for an Antarctic expedition, Mrs. Shackleton (like Mrs. Robert Scott and Mrs. Roald Amundsen, etc.) had no idea when they would hear from their mates, or ever know how or when they’d been lost. By comparison, using a satellite beacon balanced gingerly on the side of a Zodiac, on a clear day in the center of the bay (away from the tall glacier walls), I’m able to connect to the Internet, send text and photos, and even download email.
(Photo: Courtesy of Jon Bowermaster/Pictured: Jon Bowermaster)
Antarctica, Always Antarctica
Despite the modern advantages of sat phones and Gore-Tex, if trapped by ice a thousand miles from the nearest town, the difference between 2012 and 1912 wouldn’t seem great. Stuck in Antarctica is stuck in Antarctica, no matter the century.
Comments