En route to South Georgia Island
Our introduction to the Antarctic came in the form of an immense tabular iceberg sighted mid morning as we sailed towards South Georgia. The Larsen ice shelf in the Weddell Sea has been breaking up at an accelerated rate in the last decade giving birth to these behemoths, which are pushed north by the currents.
Its difficult for us to picture the extent of such an immense piece of nature (see photo), but remote imagery from space reveals that it was some 47 x 6 statute mile or 222 square miles in area. It was nearly 60 ft above surface representing a total thickness of 300 ft. That represents 51 billion tons of water, which at our daily rate of shipboard consumption of 33 tons would keep the Endeavour supplied for 4.4 million years This was only one of three such bergs in the South Georgia area. Because they become grounded in the relatively shallow depths here they begin to break up, shedding large ice bergs which please our eyes with their myriad forms and reflective surfaces.
Fur seals, immature wandering albatrosses, and Gentoo penguins announced our approach to the glacial Island of South Georgia . We entered Kong Haakon Bay as did Ernest Shackleton in the James Caird almost 90 years ago. Our first landing was at Peggotty Camp where the Boss and his companions began the last leg of their trip over the glacier to the whaling station at Stromness. It was a memorable start of our journey to the great white continent.
Our introduction to the Antarctic came in the form of an immense tabular iceberg sighted mid morning as we sailed towards South Georgia. The Larsen ice shelf in the Weddell Sea has been breaking up at an accelerated rate in the last decade giving birth to these behemoths, which are pushed north by the currents.
Its difficult for us to picture the extent of such an immense piece of nature (see photo), but remote imagery from space reveals that it was some 47 x 6 statute mile or 222 square miles in area. It was nearly 60 ft above surface representing a total thickness of 300 ft. That represents 51 billion tons of water, which at our daily rate of shipboard consumption of 33 tons would keep the Endeavour supplied for 4.4 million years This was only one of three such bergs in the South Georgia area. Because they become grounded in the relatively shallow depths here they begin to break up, shedding large ice bergs which please our eyes with their myriad forms and reflective surfaces.
Fur seals, immature wandering albatrosses, and Gentoo penguins announced our approach to the glacial Island of South Georgia . We entered Kong Haakon Bay as did Ernest Shackleton in the James Caird almost 90 years ago. Our first landing was at Peggotty Camp where the Boss and his companions began the last leg of their trip over the glacier to the whaling station at Stromness. It was a memorable start of our journey to the great white continent.
