Drake Passage, South Shetland Islands, Deception Island

Saturday, February 9

I woke before 6 am and peaked out the window. I saw something white on the horizon against the gray sky. I got excited and thought it might be an iceberg, but then decided it was just clouds and crawled back in bed. 😴

I got up about an hour later, dressed quietly and went up to the Lido to get some coffee. (I sure wish HAL provided in-room coffee makers as Norwegian does!) I knew Bob would still be sleeping so I stopped by the library and looked through one of the books on Antarctic that was available. (The library on the Zaandam is pretty impressive...the best of any we have seen on a ship.) When I got back to our cabin, Bob was just starting to stir.

Using his binoculars, Bob looked out the window and could see a large tabular iceberg off in the distance. By the time he dressed and we made it up to breakfast, the Zaandam was just passing by the iceberg.

We got layered up in our warm clothes and went outside with Kent and Laurel as we were approaching the South Shetland Islands. The Zaandam was now sailing past much, much larger icebergs than the one which got us so excited last night.

Approaching the South Shetland Islands

Around 10 am, Laurel and I went back to our cabins while the guys went to the gym. I worked at backing up photos and then Laurel and I went to the theater for Scott's lecture, "Royalty on Ice," about emperor penguins. The guys had also made it to the theater a little later and found seats elsewhere.

During the Q & A session after the lecture, Laurel and I left to beat the crowd to the buffet. Bob and Kent joined us and we ate quickly to get done and be outside as the Zaandam approached Deception Island.

Over the course of the few days when we were in Antarctica I slowly perfected the combination of layers that seemed to work best for keeping warm. (With the ship moving, it was pretty chilly out on the open decks...but still about 60º warmer than what the actual temps were at home!)

My clothing amounted to either Cuddle Duds long underwear or a pair of fleece-lined leggings under my jeans and then topped by a pair of REI rain pants to block the wind. On top was a warm sweatshirt or sherpa top, my Columbia fleece jacket and finally my parka-length Eddie Bauer packable down coat. For headwear I had a fleece lined knitted beanie covered by a microfleece hood that I got at Kohls. This protected my neck and I could pull it up over my chin and mouth. I also pulled up the hood on my down coat...so 3 layers on my head altogether! I had purchased convertible wool mittens that could be folded back to expose the tips of my fingers to use my camera but these I never wore. Instead I put Hot Hands hand warmers inside my snuggly fitting gloves and my hands stayed toasty warm. I had also brought along foot warmers, but never used any. Wool socks kept my feet plenty warm. Getting dressed was time consuming, but we stayed outside for long periods of time and were comfortable.

Dressed for Antarctica!

Deception Island is a former volcano where the caldera has filled with water. There is an entrance on one side of the caldera that some ships can enter, but the Zaandam is too large. The commentary started as we got close to the island.

Google Map showing location of Zaandam
near South Shetland Islands.

Zaandam approaching Deception Island.

The opening into the caldera at Deception Island.

Lots of birds around the island.

On one shore was a very large colony of chinstrap penguins...pretty far away even with a binoculars or long zoom.

The penguin colony was huge!

We spent a lot of time on the outside decks in the afternoon and were rewarded with various wildlife sightings.

A pod of killer whales.

Penguins floating by on an iceberg.

A "porpoising penguin". (Say that fast three times!!)

Later in the afternoon, as promised, the captain sailed the ship past a tabular (flat on top) iceberg that was 5 miles wide by 11 miles long. According to Bryan, the expedition guide, Antarctica is divided up into 4 quadrants (A, B, C, and D) and the largest icebergs are given names based on where it originated. This one was A57. The berg was 180 feet tall above the water and as much as 1000 feet of ice was below the surface. Bryan said that if the ice was melted it would make enough water to run the Nile River for 75 years!!

One end of the massive iceberg.

A close-up of the iceberg.

Not wanting to miss anything, we chose to stay outdoors longer and skip eating in the dining room. Many of the choices at the Lido buffet were the same as what was on the dining room menu and it was a great...and quicker...alternative. We were worried we might miss something if we spent a couple of hours in the dining room.

Walking back through the mid-ship pool area after eating, the guys stopped for a little ping pong and then we went up to the Crow's Nest. At that time most passengers were having dinner or at the show and there were very few people up there. (The evening show at the Mainstage Theater was "Ancora"..."classical crossover vocal harmony group made up of four of the UK's finest classically trained young voices.")

As we sat there watching out the windows we saw whale after whale after whale! Scott, the expedition guide, showed up and did an impromptu commentary as well. Slowly more and more folks arrived (perhaps because of the Happy Hour special at the bar? 😉) We stayed until the sun set and it was too dark to spot any more whales.

Tomorrow's schedule has the expedition guides' commentary scheduled to start at 7 am as the Zaandam sails through Dallman Bay...time to call it a night and get some sleep.