Absolutely Amazing Antarctica!

Our scenic cruising through Antarctica had been one of the most anticipated parts of our trip, for me at least.  After the Drake Strait it was surprising to be in waters that were so calm that I got some great photos with reflections you'll see later.

Our first sighting of an iceberg was this massive plateau out in the distance of the Boyd Strait.  It's a little hard to see as at that time it was still very overcast and snowing a little.

We got ourselves dressed and headed to the upper decks to take a look around.  Someone had incorrectly spelled our destination on a glass panel but I liked the thought.

Karl grabbed himself a handful of Antarctic snow, it was just a cold as the icy stuff at home.

Thought I'd get myself a photo of me by the snow sign to remind myself I was there!

It was amazing to see how many different views you got of the same iceberg.  This one above looked like it was a single berg from a distance.

Seeing how huge these floating ice cubes were it was hard to imagine the Oahu sized chunk, A23a, floating out there somewhere towards South Georgia Island.

Eventually snow covered islands came in sight as well as we entered  the Gerlache Strait, a famous piece of water on the west side of the peninsula that separates it from the Palmer Archipelago, and home to blue icebergs, humpback and minke whales who feed on the swarms of krill here, plus the snow-covered mountains.  Many consider it the most beautiful area on the continent. The strait is 200 km (124 mi) long, is 50 km (31 mi) wide on its northern end and as narrow as 10 km (6.2 mi) wide on the southern end.  It’s named in honor of Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache who first explored the area in 1898, although the discoverer himself originally named it “Belgiac Strait”.  It was a heavily trafficked whaler hunting ground during the early 20th century and is still one of the most sailed through regions of Antarctica.  

Captain Stig detoured his route slightly so we could get closer to this arched iceberg you can see behind me in this photo.

It was without doubt the most stunning piece of nature that we would see floating that day.  The shades of blue were just exquisite!

Until we got closer we weren't able to see the open arch on the end.  Nature creates such beauty without any help from anyone.

Our most excellent room steward, Damain ,was cleaning near our room as Captain Stig put Serenade into a 360 degree turn so that everyone could get a glimpse of the arches.  We pleaded with Damain to stop working and come see this iceberg.  He came out on the balcony and was as amazed as we were.  I took his picture so he'd have a memory and so that he could send it to his daughters, ages 7 and 3, back in Guyana.  The seven-year-old loved it and he later showed me how she'd sent him back two full lines of happy face heart emojis.

Our friend LeaAnn caught this photo of a penguin swimming near the ship.  They looked so small as they were leaping from the water that at first I had thought they were fish.  We saw lots of them around the ship all day. A group of swimming penguins is called a raft.

I know they're hard to see but those little black specks on this iceberg are actually penguins, the only ones we actually saw out of the water in Antarctica.  A group of penguins on land are called a waddle, gotta love that! 

We saw lots of whale spouts and whale tails throughout the day.  Most of what we saw were humpback whales as bits of them came out of the water.

I caught the nose of one here but that's about it.  There were a couple of them that jumped from the water that others caught on video but we weren't that lucky.

Here's just the hump back, the only way we knew what kind of whale we were seeing.  The gigantic beasts were pretty slow moving, not in any hurry to go anywhere.

Our furthest point south that we would visit was Paradise Bay, peaks, snow and glaciers all in one.  Waters so smooth that they would have been perfect for water skiing...if you could get a ski boat across the Drake Strait and were willing to wear an inch thick wetsuit over your swim suit!

The reflections on the water were beautiful in every direction.  The mountains were stark and lovely.

A rescue boat was sent out to snap a piece of Antarctic ice to bring on to the ship.  They netted it and then hoisted it up 11 decks to near the pool.  A view of that in the next post!

The blue tints happen because the ice absorbs the longer wavelengths of red and yellow light but will reflect the shorter blues and greens.  Now sure how it happens, just that it works that way.

Paradise Bay is a harbor near Lemaire and Bryce Islands with jagged, rock-like chunks of ice that overlook the bay.  It’s one of the few places that is used as a stop for cruise ships, and no, we didn't stop to get off. just to look at the scenery and for wildlife.  There are two scientific research bases located nearby.  Although Chile’s station is no longer in use it has a designation as a Historic Site as it has a shelter that was used by the Chilean president when he became the first head of state to visit Antarctica.  The other base belonging to Argentina, is perched above the bay, and is only open in the summer, we didn't see it.  Originally the whalers who came here in the early 1920s called this spot “Paradise Harbor”.  A small informational aside for you, whaling in the area is now banned.  

This spot is one of the coldest and windiest places on Earth where the weather is unpredictable and cruise routes can change at the last minute.  I was really glad we got to see the glacial mountains reflected on the icy waters, along with the massive glaciers and scattered icebergs found here on a still, calm day.

These holes in the glaciers looked like doors, I had to wonder if a penguin or two might hide inside at times when there are storms.

All in all Boyd Strait, Gerlache Strait and Paradise Bay made for one of the most spectacular days we've had, and I know, you're probably beginning to wonder how many times I'm going to say that.  It will happen with the next post for Elephant Island!