Prospect Point and the Grandidier Channel
The White Continent! Today these words became a special reality for us.
For seven days now we have cruised toward and through the Antarctic, encountering icebergs and penguins, whales, seals and polar research bases. We have made a number of landings on the islands of the South Shetlands, the Alexander Archipelago and Marguerite Bay. And we have enjoyed the companionship of our shipmates, our guides and the wonderful crew.
This morning, though, was a particularly special occasion. After making our way north into the Grandidier Channel during the night we approached Prospect Point just before breakfast and dropped anchor close to the great glacier that descends from the impressive mountains there. After the meal Tim briefed us on the plan and announced that this landing would not be on one of the beautiful islands but on the continent of Antarctica itself! Very soon the Zodiacs were making quick shuttles from ship to shore and when we arrived we found the flags of the National Geographic Society and Lindblad Expeditions flying in celebration of what for many of us was the seventh continent of our travels. Above the steep snow steps at the shore the staff had laid out a safe route up onto the toe of the glacier where we had a spectacular view over the nearby Fish Islands and the ice-choked waters around them. These waters also proved to be a wonderful place for Zodiac cruises in the amazing, ever-changing sculpture garden of bergs.
The morning was the continent, the afternoon was white. White landscape, white sky, white mountains, white sea. Our captain took National Geographic Explorer into a huge expanse of fast ice, frozen ocean stretching completely across a large bay in the on the mainland side of the Grandidier Channel. Under his skilled hand our ship cut through the ice, opening huge cracks ahead of our bow, the dark water in them the only black in our white world.
Moving on to the north, we encountered a small group of humpback whales moving slowly through the clear water in an area of broken pack ice. We then had a rare opportunity to watch as our team of whale researchers launched their Zodiac and implanted a tag in one of the leviathans as a tool to learn more about their migratory behavior. Soon thereafter we were out in the Zodiacs again ourselves, enjoying hot chocolate in front of a towering glacial wall and photographing crabeater seals in the pack ice
It was a long, busy, wonderful day in the embrace of the White Continent.
