December 2, 2024 - Monday - Livingston Island

December 2, 2024 – Monday                          Day 68 of this journey 

Explore Antarctica – Day 7 – Livingston Island 

This is our last day in Antarctica. We are parked off Livingston Island at Elephant Point. By saying that we are parked, that is a pretty apt description. We are using something called Dynamic Positioning (DP). Most watercraft sailing in Antarctica are not allowed to drop an anchor. DP utilizes GPS and once it is engaged, the thrusters automatically engage to maintain our position at an exact location. 

Livingston Island is part of the South Shetland Islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. This is called Elephant Point because there is quite a colony of Elephant Seals here and we are planning a landing in the middle of that colony.

Livingston Island, Elephant Point, South Shetland Islands

For the morning, we will take our last SOB ride. It is fairly clear, but cold out there. We bundle up in our various layers and report to the meeting area. The swells aren’t as bad as yesterday, so we are able to board the SOB from the hangar. That means we aren’t competing for space with the zodiacs. 

As soon as everyone is aboard, the SOB takes off at high speed. I’m not sure if we were at maximum speed (40 mph) or not, but he was really flying. We stay at that pace for 15 minutes when we arrive at Deception Island. There are a few Elephant Seals that are just light brown spots on the beach. There are a few Gentoo penguins as well. And for the first time since leaving Ushuaia, we see green. We are far enough north that plants are able to survive here.

Those light brown dots are elephant seals

Green! 

We can’t get too close to shore as this bay is too shallow and rocky. We hang around for about 10 minutes, then we spend another 15 minutes getting back to the ship. I don’t remember ever being so cold. I have no idea what the wind chill factor was but WOW! We were so glad to get back to the ship and warm up. 

Moving around the ship, we chatted with a few folks that had done the landing in the morning. Everyone was really impressed. So, we’ve got something to look forward to.

The view of nearby land

Our afternoon departure was 3:00 pm. We suit up with all the layers one more time. We’ll be turning in our boots and waterproof pants after this excursion. The zodiac heads toward shore at a quick pace, then slowly approaches the beach. The driver hops out of the zodiac to push it the rest of the way. And a couple of Team members come out into the water to help. One by one, we swing our legs over the side of the zodiac and drop into the water. Its only about 6-8 inches deep and a Team member escorts each guest to shore. The Team has laid out a path that we can walk along for viewing the seals. It isn’t far, is relatively level even if it is a little muddy. Trekking poles were handed out if you wanted one.

Approaching the beach and waiting for the zodiac
already there to leave

The unloading process

The seals are everywhere. This year’s pups are easy to spot as they are a lighter color. But they are at least 6 feet long. Others look huge to us, but we learn that all of these are no more than teenagers, and these are also all males. We do not see any older males with the proboscis that gives them their name. We’ve been told that the adult males can reach 19’ in length and weigh as much as 8,800 pounds. So cool!

Elephant seals everywhere

Pups

Just lounging around

A couple of boys decided they needed to practice fighting
Watch the video below

 

Time to go. The Team pushes and pulls the loaded zodiacs into deeper water

Very interesting landscape

We return to the beach to wait for our return ride to the ship. We are directed to wash as much of the mud off our boots as we can. There is a bucket of long handled brushes that make it easy. Again, we are assisted in getting back onto the zodiac and Team members push the loaded zodiac out into the water until it is deep enough to engage the propeller. 

On our way back, we spot what looks like a stranded zodiac. We know what’s going on, but the rest of the people on our zodiac do not. Every segment, on the last day that the toys can be in the water, the Beverage team send glasses and champagne out for every returning zodiac. Everybody gets a glass of champagne (or orange juice) to toast with before getting back on board.

Tonight, we will be heading back into the Drake Passage. The forecast looks like it will be very similar to our trip south. A lot of rock and roll, but that is considered a “good” passage.

A final look at Antarctica. What a wonderful experience

 

December 1, 2024 -

December 1, 2024 – Sunday                           Day 67 of this journey 

Explore Antarctica – Day 6 – Astrolabe Island 

Another change in our location today. Our very first stop in Antarctica went as planned. Since then, I don’t think any of our stops has been what was initially planned. This is not an issue at all, it is part of exploring Antarctica. And we are beginning to get used to it. That is kind of a shame. We have only one more day in Antarctica after today. 

Today we are at Astrolabe Island. We are toward the northern end of the Antarctica Peninsula. We hope to do a landing today to sea more penguins, and some seals. 

As we progress towards our destination, we see huge icebergs floating by. These are not interesting chunks of ice. These are huge pieces of Tabular Ice. They are the size of several square city blocks.

These can be 50-100 feet thick

Just above the horizon, you can see the outline of our destination

We arrive at the island, and it appears to our very inexperienced eye that there is way too much ice in this bay to allow for landings. We’ve also got a significant swell going on that is really rocking the boat. We’ve got an early morning SOB ride, and our landing is supposed to be this afternoon. 

These rocks off the coast of the Peninsula remind me of French Polynesia. A totally different color palette for sure, but much the same feel.

Shortly after arrival, Pedro announces that there is too much ice to do the landing, but they will be substituting zodiac rides for the landings and the other activities will go on as planned. 

We report to the gathering area for SOB rides and learn that there is too much swell for safely loading the SOB. They have never loaded the SOBs from Deck A before, but they are going to give that a try. When it is our turn, we march to Deck A. Deck A has a bit of a back-up already since it is taking longer than normal to load the zodiacs due to the swell. 

Finally, it is our turn and the usual loading crew for the SOB is there. They are so good, so efficient. They have a really good grip on you and wait until the swell moves the SOB into the right position and then hand you over to the SOB. They talk you through the whole thing. I am always so impressed with these guys and how competent they are. 

We putter around for awhile with Valeria as our guide. Her QuietVox transmitter isn’t working but she’s got a voice that really doesn’t need it. She describes how these islands were formed by the movement of the tectonic plates meeting in this area. We also pass near an island that is a rookery for Chinstrap Penguins. There are also Antarctic Cormorants here and Giant Petrels. Along with Snowy Shearwaters. Snowy Shearwaters stay close to the Penguins and clean up after them. The Chinstraps’ nests are way up near the top of this island. That is a long walk from the ocean.

Icebergs are like snowflakes. No two are the same

There is a pond in the middle of this berg

The island with the chinstrap penguins. The Giant Petrels nest at 
the very top.

Our time is about up, and we head back to the ship, but can see that there are several zodiacs waiting to offload guests as well as the other SOB. Adding the SOBs to this loading location, has really complicated things. Rather than just sit at idle until it is our turn, we head back out to look around. We see several icebergs with small groups of Penguins on them. And we just continue to explore. But it is very cold. The temperature is 29 or 30 degrees and its windy. It is as cold as we have been.

Gentoo Penguins on an iceberg

By the time we are off the SOB and back on the boat, we’ve had enough. We cancelled our afternoon zodiac ride. 

Turns out to be a good decision. The wind is up even more in the afternoon and it is snowing. 

We had dinner at the World Café this evening and enjoyed the sushi. Then we went to a Martini tasting event in The Hide. It was a different approach. They had 4 different stations set up with the ingredients for a specific martini. You could choose any one (or all). Then go to that station and mix your own martini. We chose a chocolate martini. Those could be dangerous!

 

A nice way to end our day.

November 30, 2024 - Saturday - Wilhelmina Bay and Sea Ice

November 30, 2024 – Saturday                    Day 66 of this journey 

Explore Antarctica – Day 5 – Wilhelmina Bay & Sea Ice 

When we got up this morning and opened our blackout shade, we were right where we were when we went to bed. The unrelenting white is amazing. We wandered around the open decks a little bit and took a few early morning photos.

You can see the ice under the water. It is much thicker than it looks

Just interesting cracks in the ice

Around 8:00 am the beverage staff was in the Shelter and around the ship handing out coffee with whipped cream and cherry brandy. It was also softly snowing but not accumulating. 

A little after 9:00 am, the captain announced that Pablo and some of the Expedition Team were going out on the ice to assess its thickness and suitability for an ice landing. We watch from the Explorer’s Lounge as they wander around “assessing”. It is obvious it is much thicker than what we thought. While they were assessing, a couple of penguins wandered over to see what was going on.

3 people "assessing", 2 penguins assessing the humans (lower left)

4 people working, 2 penguins watching, a lot of guests
supervising

Pablo announced that after the assessment, it looked favorable. The Captain is going to back the ship out of the ice then sail forward again to get the ship a little deeper into the ice. They will reassess the area one more time and hope to bring guests out on to the ice in small groups. They’ll be calling people by deck. He also announced that we would not be going to our afternoon stop so all afternoon activities are cancelled. 

This is a first for Viking. This is the first time a Viking Ship has parked in the ice. This is the first time guests from a Viking ship will step directly onto ice from the ship. 

The first group of guests went onto the ice a little after 10:30 am. We could watch them from our window. Lots of selfies. 

We had almost finished lunch when our deck was called, so we quickly went back to our cabin, and I suited up. Russ had decided he didn’t need to walk on the ice. 

Downstairs on Deck A, we gathered just as we do for a zodiac ride. 10 guests at a time were allowed to go out. It is just 2 steps from the shell door to the ice. It was snowing lightly. You were paired with 2 Expedition Team members and offered ski poles for stability. Our group headed off on the well trampled trail that had been laid out. From the shell door, we walked away from the ship, then gradually turned towards the bow. We stopped every 100 feet or so and waited as each group moved across the ice. The Expedition Team guides were great, chatting with us about the ice and the ship. Offering to take photos, suggesting individual videos of us walking on the ice as though we are alone.

 

The goal of the trail was at a hole the Team had dug in the snow, revealing the ice. It was quite clear. Then each group lined up with a mooring line on our shoulders posing as though we were pulling the ship. Cute photo. We then wandered back to the shell door along the edge of the ship. Once inside the ship, we needed to walk through the boot washer. This is something that is done every time there is a landing. It is quite important, that we do everything we can to keep from contaminating any site.

The group photo - that is me in the lead

 

The whole thing from stem to stern

So strange to see from this perspective with
the ice crunched up against her

When all guests had been called, and it was acknowledged that everyone was back on board, we continued to see groups of people out on the ice. We realized that they had arranged for every crew member that wanted to, was able to walk on the ice. 

At the Daily Briefing, Pablo explained the process that they had to go through in order to put together today’s activity. This has never been done before, so there was no existing procedure manual. They basically had to create that and run it through several levels of Viking Senior Management, and finally were given the go ahead. Our Expedition Team as well as our Captain were delighted. 

During our walk, I learned that a few days ago, the Polaris had nosed into this same ice field but only a little way. So, part of this is a bit of sibling rivalry. We moved way into the ice, spent the night in the ice, and then offered every guest and crew member the opportunity to walk on this blanket of ice. It might be possible to do this on the next sailing (which will be back in this region in 2 weeks), but after that, the summer conditions will have caused the sea ice to become “rotten” and not safe for this activity. 

On a side note: there was one penguin on the ice amongst the guests. He chose a spot and camped out the entire time people were milling about. Of course, everyone kept a respectable distance away from him. After everyone was gone and all materials were picked up and stowed away, he lifted his head, looked around, got up and appeared to be stretching. Then he toddled off. The spot he had chosen was just below our room and we had a perfect view.

One lonely Gentoo penguin watching the people walk by.

We backed out of the ice around 4:30 pm to head for our next destination. We left quite a hole.

We left quite a hole

You can see the sea ice deteriorating

This is the type of thing that this ship was designed and built to do!