South Shetland - first landing
Day 4 : Dec 13, 2019
On 4th day, our lifetime dream comes true as the first landings happen at Yankee Harbour and Half Moon Island in South Shetland Islands.
Beautiful views of South Shetland Islands greeted us as we ambled out of the bed. We enjoyed the sights with the morning tea delivered to the suite. Then we freshened up and got ready for an exciting day ahead.
We had breakfast at La Terrazza restaurant on Deck 7, while the ship glided into Yankee Harbour bay. The sights around with blue ice glaciers were astounding. We shared the table at breakfast with a young American gentleman from San Antonio TX and had an interesting conversation on climate change. After finishing the breakfast, we went to Deck 8 and took some photographs of the Yankee Harbour and surrounding glaciers.
The Antarctic Treaty mandates the cruise ships to ensure than not more than 100 people are allowed to disembark any Antarctica site at one time. To comply with this regulation, the explorers on Silver Cloud were divided into 6 groups for orderly disembarkation at various landing sites. We were placed in Group 6. The landing slot for our group and Group 5 at Yankee Harbour was set at 10:00 am. Groups 1 & 2 were slotted for 7:00 am landing and Groups 3 & 4 were slotted for 8:30 am. Each group was allowed a maximum of 90 minutes stay at a landing site.
Gearing up for landing
At 9:00 am, we started putting on our gear for landing. We had thermal innerwear as the base layer. The intermediate layer was a fleece pullover and a water-resistant hiking trouser. The outer layer consisted of the complimentary Parka and a waterproof over-pant. We had 2 layers of woollen socks and the knee-high waterproof boots to take care of the wet landings. The life-vest was worn over the Parka. This became our standard outfit for all the landings.
At 9:45 am, we queued up at Deck 3 for boarding the zodiac boats. As a standard process, we dipped our boots into a sterile solution before boarding the zodiacs. This was done to prevent any foreign organisms being carried over to the shore. The boarding process involved climbing down to the zodiac using a short stairway from Deck 3 landing platform. We were guided, assisted and literally handheld by the crew members who ensured that each voyager is safely transferred from the landing platform to the zodiac.
Each zodiac could carry a maximum of 10 explorers and 1 zodiac crew. We had a thrilling ride to the Yankee Harbour shore. It was our first zodiac trip and landing on Antarctica, and we all were extremely excited. At the landing point, the Expedition team welcomed us and guided us the correct procedure for disembarking from the zodiacs. We got down into ankle deep waters and walked to the shore. Finally, we had made it to 7th continent and stepped ashore! We were asked to report back by 11:15 am for our return journey to the ship.
Yankee Harbour
Yankee Harbour (62°32′00′′S, 59°47′00′′W), on the south-west side of Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, is a small glacial-rimmed harbour enclosed by a curved gravel spit. A large rocky pebbled beach bounded by steep slopes denote the area. This site houses a large colony of Gentoo Penguins. Some Fur Seals and Weddell Seals also use the beach as their resting place. Most of the area is out of bounds for the visitors in order to preserve the wildlife.
As we walked around, we spotted rookeries of Gentoo Penguins, a few Fur Seals in deep slumber on the shore and an isolated Weddell Seal at a distance. The curious penguins were busy going around with their chores while eyeing us from a distance. All of us got busy clicking our first photos of the wildlife that Antarctica offered us. We walked around carefully, avoiding the penguin guano, pebbles and rocks strewn all over. Quite a few times, we had to stop and give way to the penguins that were going to the sea from the rookery or coming back.
At 11:15 am, it was time to board the zodiac and head back to the ship. The zodiac stopped midway for refuelling. We got a beautiful view of the ship with the glaciers as the backdrop. The zodiac had a spare fuel tank that the crew switched to and then continued the journey back to the ship. This also gave us an interesting opportunity to understand the working of the zodiac engine and its controls. Back at the ship, we first dipped our boots into a sterile solution, then we stepped onto an automatic boot cleaner that sprayed soap-water on boots and scrubbed them with a rotatory brush. Finally, we walked into the cleaning area where we physically cleaned our boots with water and a hard brush. After the cleaning we sprayed a disinfectant solution and stored the boots on the designated rack in the mudroom. Each suite had a designated numbered space on the racks in the mudroom on Deck 3. Before every landing, the explorers were supposed to pick up their boots from the mudroom and put them on before queuing for boarding the zodiacs. On return from the landing site, the boots were supposed to be cleaned and stored on the designated rack.
At 1:15 pm, we assembled at the Explorer Lounge on Deck 6, for our briefing on the next day’s programme. After, the briefing, we went to La Terrazza for our lunch. We enjoyed our lunch while soaking the sights around. Meanwhile the ship had lifted the anchor and headed towards Half Moon Island. After the lunch we strolled on Deck 8 & 9, clicking photographs and enjoying the sights till it was the ship anchored at Half Moon Island. Our landing slot at Half Moon Island was scheduled at 5:00 pm.
Half Moon Island
At 4:30 pm, we geared up for our 2nd landing of the day and went down to Deck 3. We put in our boots in the mudroom and boarded the zodiac. The Action Cam was strapped to Bidisha’s wrist enabling her to take a video of the thrilling zodiac ride to Half Moon Island.
Half Moon Island (62º35´24´´S, 59º55´13´´W) is a 2 km long crescent shaped island with a series of raised cobbled beaches and a small hill with rocky outcrops. It lies between Greenwich and Livingston Islands in South Shetland Islands. The island houses a colony of Chinstrap Penguins. Antarctic Terns, Kelp Gulls and Skuas also nest on the island. Camara Base of Argentine Military is also located on the island.
Our wet landing was on a small beach on the north shore. Thereafter we trekked for 2 km through a winding torturous terrain of ice, snow and rocks to visit the penguin rookery on the eastern side of the island. The star attraction of this rookery was Kevin – a Macaroni Penguin. Kevin was a solitary Macaroni Penguin who resided among the Chinstrap Penguins in their rookery. We took photos of the Macaroni penguin peacefully cohabiting with Chinstrap penguins. We also witnessed some very interesting moments of Chinstrap Penguins busy collecting pebbles & rocks for building their nests and in the process having some territorial disputes. We then started our trek back to the landing site. It was a tiring journey but the beautiful vistas and the thrill of watching penguins at such close quarters was well worth it.
Back on the ship we had lovely dinner at The Restaurant on Deck 4. We savoured a French Lobster dish and Steamed Chinese Bun with chicken stuffing. We had an interesting conversation with an American lady on the next table and spotted a few whales passing by. We retired for the night after enjoying some hot tea.