Antarctica East 2026

Jan 12-13: Seadays

We officially crossed into Antarctic waters early on Jan 12, at 67 deg 10 mins S, 171 deg 30 mins E, and celebrated by hoisting the flag.(It was also a good way to test our clothing, gloves and hats in minus 2 degs… probably colder with windchill factor)

And now I am officially a member of the Order of the Red Nose, a naval tradition for sailors who cross the Antarctic circle (66 deg 33’ S) for the first time.

And today we sailed past one of the biggest icebergs in the world

Called Iceberg B-22A, it covers around 3000 sq kms, which is around the size of Yosemite National Park or 2/3 of the size of kangaroo island.

The  iceberg first broke off Antarctica’s “Doomsday Glacier” more than 20 years ago but got caught on a raised section of the sea floor in 2012 . But now, the aging iceberg has been set free and is making up for lost time. Satellite photos from NASA‘s Terra and Aqua satellites revealed that the berg began to move again on Oct. 24, 2022, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory. As of March 26, B-22A has drifted around 110 miles (175 km) to the northwest, meaning it has traveled more than three times as far in six months than it managed in the previous 247 months. 

This satellite image shows B22-A

It is amazing how the ship navigates through the sea ice which you can see is pretty extensive. It uses radar which converts each piece of ice into a column on the diagram below and AI finds a path through

We have been exceedingly lucky with the wildlife that we have seen. The sighting of a Ross seal caused the Captain to turn the ship around to get a better look at it. This is because it is extremely rare to see this seal. The Captain had never seen one before, nor the Discovery team leader, or any of the Discovery team members. (Not even the explorer Robert Scott had seen one).

There was further excitement when a Blue Whale was sighted.Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to have lived on earth. These magnificent marine mammals are up to 100 feet long and can weight up to 200 tons. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. Their hearts, as much as an automobile. Hope you can open the video….

We also saw lots of crab eater seals and Adelie penguins.

I had forgotten about the designs they put on the top of coffees. Tonight we have 24 hour daylight.