Saturday, January 30, 2016

Point Wild - Elephant Island, South Shetland Islands

December 31 - New Year's Eve

New Year’s Eve was a great day in the South Shetland Islands. We didn't get to land on Point Wild, since the seas were too rough. One zodiac went out and they got swamped with water, so it was determined we would do a zodiac cruise around Elephant and Clarence Islands instead of landing on the small patch of land.
 on deck waiting for our zodiac to be called

 Chinstrap Penguins
 Chinstrap Penguins & Black-browed Albatrosses



 Chinstraps











 Chinstraps

 
Elephant Island is an ice-covered mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is most famous as the desolate refuge of Ernest Shackleton and his crew in 1916. Following the loss of their ship Endurance in Weddell Sea ice, the 28 exhausted men reached Cape Valentine on Elephant Island after a harrowing ordeal on drifting ice floes. After camping at Cape Valentine for two nights, Shackleton and his crew moved 7 miles westwards to a location which offered better protection from rockfalls and from the sea, and which they called Point Wild. (where Shackletons’ men waited 4 months for rescue)
We got some great views of the adorable Chinstrap Penguins, in and out of the water. Everyone had the same reaction when we saw just how small the area was where Shackleton's men spent 4 months waiting to be rescued. One of the icebergs was especially striking. They called it a zebra iceberg. It looked like a huge ice cream cone. On our way back to the ship we heard and saw some calving from the zodiac.














 zebra iceberg




 monument to Frank Wild on Port Wild, Elephant Island


 Greg in the middle in the black hat






 it was fun to go through the growlers


 the expedition staff like to play in the ice



 the back side of Point Wild











 
We also had some scenic cruising as we sailed towards the Continent. The highlight of the afternoon was the whales. It was estimated by the bridge there were over 40 Humpback & Fin Whales. We probably spent at least 45 minutes watching them before the captain moved on.

























 me on deck

 Greg on deck

 
Happy New Year! 
The family with the 10 year old came in wearing huge inflatable tuxedos for the evening. After dinner we had crepes suzette in the main lounge. One of the crew had a sing along and some people danced. We stayed a while and then went back to the cabin and watched on the TV and waited for midnight.
Here is today's program:
South Shetlands - Elephant Island
06:30 - 07:30 A Continental Breakfast is served outside the Main Lounge
07:30 - 08:30 Breakfast is served in the Dining Room
TBA We hope to visit Point Wild this morning!
Named in 1821 by the early sealing expeditions for its abundance of elephant seals, Elephant Island was the landfall of Ernest Shackleton and his men after their ship was crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea. Point Wild, named for Shackleton’s righthand man Frank Wild, is a minuscule spit of land emerging from the glacial cliffs, where his men waited for months for rescue, surviving one of the most amazing feats of human endurance. 

We intend to assess weather conditions with intent on offering an excursion. Elephant Island is a notoriously exposed area. Please stand-by for announcements. 

1) McCarthy 2) Vincent 3) McNeish 4) Shackleton 5) Worsley 6) Crean
12:30 Lunch is served in the Dining Room
15:00 Please join Hadleigh in the Main Lounge for his presentation, “Exploring the Antarctic Peninsula: From Mercantile Interest Through the Heroic Age”

18:30 There will be a Recap & Briefing in the Main Lounge
19:30 Dinner is served in the Dining Room
21:30 New Year’s Eve Celebration. Come and join us in the Main Lounge for champagne, canapés and music as we toast the arrival of the New Year. 

“Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am. There is no mystery about why this should be so. Stripped of your daily routines…you are forced into direct experience. Such direct experience inevitably makes you aware of whom it is that is having the experience.”  - Michael Crichton 

Sunrise: 03:12 Sunset: 22:16
Our temperatures over the past 3 days have definitely gotten cooler. More in the 30's, than in the 40's  (Fahrenheit). We went to bed excited to hopefully land on the Continent tomorrow!

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