Happy Valentine’s Day #1!
The day that celebrates love comes twice this year to us aboard National Geographic Endurance. Today is the first of two Valentine’s Days. Tomorrow will be February 14th again!
This day of love began with Antarctica’s closest facsimile to the bird of love, the snow petrel. Flying alongside us it symbolized the best that we humans hope for, peace and love.
The backdrop of the entire day was the endless face of the Ross Ice Shelf. It sliced the horizon with icy white angles. The flat top gave way to sky, and the bottom to the sea.
Killer whales broke the plane of the sea with their black and white torpedo forms. To our surprise these were the Big B ecotype of killer whale. Known for their skill at creating waves that spill seals off icebergs, these animals seemed intent on their course along the ice edge.
Then we saw something we had not yet seen on this journey, an iceberg the color of blue glass. Its blue-light clarity was astonishing in this white world. It marked our furthest point south. We jumped into Zodiacs and toured the ice edge to 78.45 degrees south.
Our hearts were full of the beauty of this world. Happy Valentine’s Day!
