PLA29-23, trip log, Antarctica - Weddell Sea Explorer

Finally, the day arrived for our adventure! Many of us have waited a long time for this day. We embarked on board our home for the next 11 days.

We entered the port and were welcomed by the Expedition Team and the Hotel Team at the Plancius’ gangway. After we had been shown to our rooms, we started to explore the ship and our new environment, soon followed the briefing for the mandatory safety drill and drill itself.

It was interesting to see the fellow passengers in the bulky orange lifevests. Before dinner Ali, our Expedition Leader (EL), invited us to the lounge where we went through some basic information about life on the Plancius, the general plan for the trip and the weather forecast for the upcoming days. She also introduced the expedition guides briefly. Volodymyr, our Hotel Manager, gave us useful advice about practicalities of life on board.

After the drill was complete and the shore staff were ready to free our lines, it was time to leave Ushuaia behind. We set off down the Beagle Channel to enjoy some wonderful views of the landscapes around us. The beautiful mountains together with the light in the evening gave us some stunning views. All this new information was processed with the help of a glass of champagne or a nice orange juice, and we toasted after the Captain introduced himself as well. As most of us were outside in the evening to enjoy the stunning views, we were rewarded with a full double rainbow! The beautiful lightning and the amazing colours of the sunset was and excellent ending of this evening.

For many the travel days to reach the remote town of Ushuaia were long, so most of us went to bed shortly after the fantastic buffet. We enjoyed settling into our new temporary home and cannot wait for the adventures that will begin soon.

We spend our first full day on board crossing an interesting area of South America.

Late in the evening we sailed into the Beagle Channel and by midnight we left the last land of the South American Continent, namely, we lost sight of the islands Picton, Isla Nueva and Lennox. Surprisingly we encountered a very calm Drake Passage with no swell and very little wind. This exceptional conditions made the day very pleasant on board and consequently we used most of the time int he morning and part of the afternoon to make the mandatory briefings and biosecurity.

As the day started breakfast was served on board, and given the conditions, most of our guests joined the dining room for their first breakfast on board. The exceptional weather, allowed everybody to enjoy of their meal as the ship rolled slowly and gently into the waves.

For the very first part of the morning, our expedition staff provided boots to our guests; waterproof, insulating rubber boots to every guest on board. This happened at the local “shoe shop” on board, the boot room. Passengers were called by deck and soon around 10:15 all our guests on board had boots. This activity was followed by a presentation made by Ali, about the IAATO rules that apply for expedition cruise ships visiting Antarctica. During her exposition, Ali described how fragile the Antarctic environment is and how by doing biosecurity, we can keep this environment pristine and without any invasive/alien species.

Afterwards we proceeded to start the biosecurity protocols inviting our guests to clean their Velcro's, boots and to vacuum the pockets and the back of their backpacks. This was a nice way to let our guests to know better the members of staff.

Lunch was served on board at 12:30 and by this time of the day we were very happy to see most of our guests joining the restaurant feeling in good spirits.

During the first part of the afternoon, we continued with our biosecurity protocols and by 15:00 all our guests had done their respective cleaning/vacuuming.

Thus far, during the second part of our afternoon, we had an interesting presentation by Ali, under the title “Penguins”. Here Ali took all our guests into an interesting presentation describing all the species of penguins that can bee seen in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters.

During the early evening we had our first daily recap, the moment when Ali presented the plans for the next day and where she briefed the passengers about how we operate with our zodiacs when we go ashore. Shortly after this activity, dinner was served in the restaurant. During the night, Eduardo showed the brighter stars to a few guests from the deck forward. He focused into showing the Southern Cross, the pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri) and other bright stars of the southern hemisphere such as Canopus and Achernar. Later during the night, we went deeper into the Drake Passage, sailing quietly under the lights of the waining moon and many stars.

We are still at sea; it is even a bit calmer than yesterday, and we have a bit of fog around us. There is an almost mystical atmosphere around us. It already starts to be colder, and we feel a little “hump” as we cross the Antarctic convergence. This is a meteorological and biological boundary in the sea. The cold Antarctic waters meet the warmer Atlantic waters and move under them. This creates an upwelling of nutrients. The result is a rather fertile zone where plankton and other species will thrive. To find whales out here is nevertheless like find a needle in a haystack.

There – we see blows – the breath of whales. They are brown with a dorsal fin, probably northern bottlenose whales. These creatures dive deep for foraging, feeding on squid and other creatures. They just come up to breath and are gone as fast as they appeared. A little while later hourglass dolphins appear. As there is little wind the birds that follow the ship must flap their wings more. It is a different species in comparison to yesterday. There are several different species of prions, some black browed albatross, and the occasional great albatross.

Some of us have their regular walk around the ship to have some physical activity, others try to take photos of the birds. The Expedition Team offer lectures about Alien Oceans by Eduardo and Invasive Species by Helene, and all forms of ice by Tom in Antarctica to prepare us for our voyage.

In the afternoon Ali calls us back outside. There are tall blows on the horizon. They belong to fin whales, that appear to take advantage of the nutrient rich water feeding probably on krill. We stop for a little while to observe these big creatures. It is the second largest whale species with up to 24 m. They are only exceeded by the blue whale. A little while later we can already see Antarctic land in the distance.

Just before dinner, we have a briefing by Ali and her team to explain the plans for our first outing in Antarctica. We will pass through the Antarctic Sound to arrive at a place called Brown Bluff – how exciting this sounds. Finally, after two days we will go on land!

Our first day in Antarctica! Some of us got up early to see the Antarctic Sound; a stunning landscape as we saw the first icebergs. Getting closer to Brown Bluff we saw another beautiful dark blue iceberg, the captain decided to do a full circumnavigation around it. Then we had an amazing breakfast by our wonderful hotel department. As we were heading to Brown Bluff, Josh and Annelou shuttled us to shore. Before we even stepped ashore, we had our first sighting of a leopard seal hunting already! This is for many of us our last continent, as this is our first continental landing in Antarctica. Brown Bluff is a type of volcano known as a tuya. This type of volcano is quite rare as it formed originally under an ice sheet. When the volcano erupted under the ice sheet, the lava stacked up in what we call pillow lavas. Only when the ice sheet above melted the cone formed, and therefore the volcano has such a special shape and does not look very typical of the volcanoes we know.

As Ali welcomed us ashore, we were met by plenty of gentoo and adelie penguins. Lots of fur seals were laying around with the occasional weddell seal and even a quick glimpse of a male elephant seal. There was a leopard seal swimming around in the water, looking for breakfast. The penguin chicks on shore were smart enough not to go for a swim with their downy feathers. Many of us decided to stay still for a moment, and very often a curious penguin may come up to say hello.

We did a small hike to the glacier and as we came closer, a bunch of male fur seals were having a nap close by. We could walk up quite close to the glacier as it was partly on land as well! As the morning came to an end, we went back to the ship, amazed by this first wonderful landing.

However, during lunch an announcement was made by Ali, killer whalers ahead!

Most of us went running out of the restaurant as we did not want to miss this special sighting. It was quite a large pod with some juveniles and one big male as well. We saw even some whales spy hopping! They came close to the ship and as they stayed for quite a while, and then we carried on with our journey to our next anchorage, Kinnes Cove.

It is already the afternoon, and we arrive at Kinnes Cove where we enjoy our first zodiac cruise in Antarctica. The Madder Cliffs have a beautiful red hue, a nice contrast next to the glacier we see. We get close to a colony of adelie penguins and we are astonished by how elegant they jump out of the water, quite a contrast by how they get in the water! When we return to the ship, we are surprised to see two leopard seals on a ice floe almost next to the ship. We return to the ship after all these new experiences and enjoy a hot chocolate. In the evening, Ali shows us the plans for the next day, which are promising!

A day of exploration for all of us onboard, as we landed at a ‘new’ site for everyone except the Captain, The Naze on James Ross Island. The Naze is a spit of land on the northern side of the island, with some spectacular rocky peaks at one end under which we landed. A large snow-capped peak rising from the sea at the other end almost looked like a peak on the prairies or back in Patagonia, with the yellowish rock on the lower slope coloured like grassland.

Once we arrived onshore, we were greeted by many ice boulders on the beach and several male Fur Seals. The morning was very relaxed for everyone, with many of us taking the time to enjoy the open nature of the site and explore in small groups. Near the landing site many of us enjoyed discovering the amazing fossils lining the beach, including some impressive ammonites. These are an extinct group of molluscs which lived over 65 million years ago. The volcanic past of the island was clearly present with the rock formations along the shoreline, with Tom providing us with lots of information.

The north side of the Naze, which is a thin neck, also provided us with an unfamiliar view of a sand beach. The beach was home to many resting Fur Seals and the odd Weddell Seal was also spotted in amongst the ‘Furries’. One of the highlights for many in the morning was the hike up the hillside towards the tooth-shaped peak, with wonderful views out across the bay.

Once we had all arrived back onboard Plancius, we began to make our way further into Croft Bay, but with the wind picking up we soon turned around and headed towards Vega Island. Landing at Cape Lamb in the afternoon, we were again treated to some beautiful, calm weather. This landing gave many of us a chance to stretch our legs further and undertake a longer hike.

Splitting into different groups some of us made our way along the shoreline beachcombing and enjoy the sunshine, while others took to the hills and walk up towards the higher rock formations and an ice field. Almost like a mini Grand Canyon or Monument Valley, the rock formations and peaks surrounding Cape Lamb are incredible. Those of us on the hike even got to enjoy time at a huge volcanic boulder which lay halfway along the trail and was split into two parts. There were more fossils to be discovered, including this time some petrified wood hidden inside rocks.

With the weather so pleasant, many of us enjoying the hike without layers and layers of clothes, it was decided tonight would be the perfect time to camp. Once another fantastic dinner was complete, including a lovely tiramisu for dessert, 36 brave souls and the Doctor took the zodiacs again to be delivered onshore for a night under the stars at Cape Lamb.

Those of us who went camping arrived back to the ship early in the morning after a fantastic adventure and now belonging to a very selected group of people who spent a night on Antarctic soil.

In the morning we visited the Adelie penguin colony at Devil island. The weather was great, lots of sunshine and lots of big chunks of ice on the beach made it a fairy-tale landscape. The colony was not so busy anymore, lots of adults and chicks had already gone back to sea. But still, we could see some adults moulting and some punky chicks chasing every adult returning from sea they could find, hoping for a much-needed meal.

After a fabulous lunch we spent the afternoon on a zodiac cruise in Prince Gustav bay where we experienced the wonderful world of ice. We sailed with the zodiacs through the bay where lots of large icebergs were stranded. The erosion of the bergs had caused the most wonderful shapes and the light on the ice caused them to shine up in the most fabulous shades of blue. We saw many fur-seals on the ice and a small group of Weddell seals. During recap, Ali briefed us again about the plans for next day followed by a short lecture of Annelou about the colours of ice. After that it was time for an Antarctic BBQ on the aft deck.

While having our dinner on the aft deck, being surrounded by the most fabulous landscapes suddenly some Humpback whales showed up, adding to the excitement. After dinner some of us put on the dancing shoes and ending yet another great day in Antarctica with a small party.

Ali wakes us up to a magical landscape. The sun is shining bright, the sky is blue, the ocean is flat calm and as far as our eyes can reach there are icebergs scattered around. Plancius is already anchored in front of Snow Hill Island, right in front of the hut where one part of the stranded crew had overwintered.

After a delicious breakfast we all go ashore to visit the hut, except for the intrepid divers who once more explore the underwater world. As we go ashore, we visit the hut which is being refurbished by a team of Argentinians camping right next to it. We keep our social distancing because of their Covid protocol, but they offer us a warm welcome, and we bring them fresh fruit. The landscape is quite amazing with flat plateaus flanked by what look like walls of basalt. It does not take us long before we find fossils again. The weather is gorgeous and most of us just stroll along the shore admiring the different shapes of the icy bits that are stranded on the low-tide line. After visiting the hut, we climb up the hill to have a better look at the incredible landscape of ice, mounts, and glaciers. After a long landing we all go back to Plancius to enjoy our well-deserved lunch.

During our repositioning we sail across beautiful straits filled with icebergs of different shapes and colours, and we see some humpback whales surfacing. We are looking for the elusive emperor penguin, but they seem to have all left the colonies and the area.

In the afternoon Ali decides to focus our expedition on and around James Ross Island. The weather is now a little cloudy, but the sea is still calm. We do a split landing and zodiac cruise, with our divers exploring the world below the surface, and our kayakers following Zet across the icebergs. First the hikers are shuttled to land, and it takes a little time to get from Plancius to the landing site, as Plancius is positioned a little farther away because of all the ice present close to shore. The hike was very exciting as it is quite probable that we were the first people to ever landed there! Both the long hike and the medium hike group got up to an amazing viewpoint with lots of interesting things along the way, like loads of lichen and glacier traces.

The second group goes on a zodiac cruise, and we find ourselves in a maze of moving icebergs. There is quite a lot of current and some icebergs move very fast, in contrast to those which are grounded. We are lucky enough to see several icebergs of considerable sizes roll over themselves. We also find a couple of Weddell seals, but no trace of emperor penguins. The sky progressively clears, and we finish our zodiac cruise in the sun. Plancius must reposition several times because of the moving ice, and as we come back to the ship, we have to dock on the gangway in quite a bit of current, which makes it quite interesting.

We then have our recap and dinner and spend some time on the outer decks as Plancius sails again through the icebergs. During recap, Ali shows us the picture of the ships that are in the Antarctic Peninsula currently; we are truly alone in the Weddell Sea.

The sky is very clear and at about 10:30pm Eduardo improvises a short stargazing class on the upper deck behind the bridge. He shows us the Southern Cross, but also the brightest stars and some of the furthest celestial bodies that can be seen with the naked eye, like the large and the small Magellanic clouds. The sunset is amazing, and we can still distinguish the silhouettes of large tabular icebergs. Another beautiful day in Antarctic paradise.

After a quiet night we woke up to an amazing sunrise in pink and blue. Icebergs of all sizes surround us. Several tabular icebergs are among them. We are on the South-eastern side of Snow Hill Island. On this side the island is covered by ice. In the distance we can see the mountains of James Ross Land. During winter Emperor penguins breed on the ice just around the corner. Now all the sea ice is gone, the emperors are out at sea. We have reached our southernmost point, not many people have come here in the past. After breakfast we launch all zodiacs for a zodiac cruise between the icebergs, Zet takes out a group for kayaking. We are looking for an emperor penguin. There is no wind and with the sun it isn’t cold at all. Only little life is around but this doesn’t bother us because the view is just magical. A few Antarctic terns accompany us and minke and humpback whales pass by quickly, as we find our way through the ice. It is an ever-moving labyrinth. No iceberg looks the same. If we look closely, we can identify shapes in the icebergs – rabbits or dragons. A leopard seal is resting on an ice floe and allows us to have a good look at it. After a few hours it is unfortunately time to return to the ship.

We start heading north again, the ice is everywhere around us. It never seems to end. Sometimes we see seals or a few penguins. In the afternoon we can enjoy a hot beverage on the top deck and chat in the sun. Life is good here onboard Plancius, and we are surrounded by tabular icebergs. Eventually the wind picks up a bit, a few cape petrels pass by and finally the fog accompanies us into the night.

The day started very early, with a delicious breakfast, in order to enjoy a landing at Yankee harbor. When we arrived at the beautiful beach, we see from the distance a small group of gentoos, and few chinstrap penguins. Along the beach were some fur seals; they were quite curious, and with some “noises” they were just telling us to maintain distance. Some brown skuas were feeding on a penguin, and to our surprise some penguins were quite interested in the behavior as well!

When we were walking along the beach, we have an amazing surprise: 7 elephants seals were waiting us and gave a beautiful scenery; they give some roars, yawns and show us a little fight between them. We enjoy the view and the presence of these giants.

Just going up to a little hill we can appreciate a lovely, and very smelly, gentoo colony. After this amazing morning, we return to the Plancius to enjoy the lunch buffet.

At the afternoon Ali briefed us about the last landing in Antarctica, and we arrived in our zodiacs to Half Moon Island. Just at the beach some gentoos and chinstrap are waiting us to get some final shots with our cameras! We found an old Norwegian boat from the whaling era, more than 100 years old. Going up from the beach we were surprised with an amazing view of a magnificent glacier. Walking a little more we enjoy the presence of the chinstrap colony.

At 3 o`clock in the afternoon the moment of truth arrives: who will be the brave souls to enter the water to do the famous Polar Plunge? Surprisingly, more than 20 people decide to try, even two staff members joined in, and these people are now part of the amazing group of the “Polar Swimmers”.

Now it’s time to say goodbye to this beautiful beach and return to the Plancius. Between hot coffee and delicious pastry every one of us started to share how our last landing in Antarctica was.

Once in the lounge we listen carefully to the interesting recaps of Tom “Lunar Basalts”, Tanja “Penguins have knees” and Josh “History of the Antarctic Expeditions”.

To finish this amazing day, we enjoy a delicious dinner while sharing stories.

We spend our first day sailing across the Drake Passage on the way back to Ushuaia. Overnight, our ship rolled among the waves as we departed the South Shetland Islands. The swell was up to 3 m with long period and at the beginning, some of our guests had a hard time to sleep. In the morning our ship held its course, North-North West heading towards the mouth of the beagle channel and our position at 08:00 AM was about 400 nautical miles South South East of Cape Horn. We had great sailing conditions during the morning, and we all enjoyed of some sun in the uppermost deck. As sun shone, we had a very crisp and sharp horizon in front of us. A few lonely birds flied in front of our ship, mostly Black Browed Albatross, they did many circles in front of us showing us why they are masters of flight.

As the day started breakfast was served on board, and given the conditions, most of our guests joined the dining room for their first breakfast on board. The exceptional weather allowed everybody to enjoy of their meal as the ship rolled slowly and gently into the waves.

For the very first part of the morning, our expedition staff gave presentations to our guests. The first of this presentations, under the title of “Ice Maidens” was made by Ali. In the first part of her lecture, she described various aspects of the women of Antarctic explorers, specifically of Emily Shackleton, Ernst Shackleton’s wife and Kathleen Scott, the wife of Robert Falcon Scott. In the second part, she describes the stories of a few modern women in the Antarctic who have accomplished extraordinary feats. Her presentation was very much welcomed by the guests and at the end of it, Ali got many questions.

Our second presentation of the morning was offered by our expedition guide Josh, who offered a presentation under the title of "Scott and Amundsen - The Race to the South Pole". In this presentation, Josh described how the Golden Age of Exploration of Antarctica happened at the beginning of the 20th century and how this era brought two individuals to a race to reach the South Pole.

Lunch was served on board at 12:30 and by this time of the day we were very happy to see most of our guests joining the restaurant feeling well in the gentle roll of the ship.

Shortly after, during the first half of the afternoon, we had the first lecture, presented by veterinarian and biologist Pierre. His presentation, made under the title “Killer Whales”. This was a superb introduction to all the non-experts about the life and habits of these beautiful cetaceans that populate the oceans of the world. In his presentation, Pierre paid special attention to describe all the aspects of the life-cycle of killer whales, their migrations, their feeding habits, and the dangers that can threat them. He showed various videos and sounds bringing many of his vivid experiences with killer whales to our guests.

For the second part of our afternoon, we had a guest lecture, offered by master diver, Faith Ortins. With the title “Under the Water” Fait described how the divers braved the cold Antarctic waters to explore what lies beneath the waves. This graphic presentation showed the rich forms of life they encountered during the multiple dives they made on this and other trips to the Antarctic.

During the early evening we had our daily recap. Here Ali presented the plans for the next day. We had two interesting recaps from Catherine explaining the Beaufort Scale, the scale used by sailors and navigators to measure the state of the waves and wind in the ocean. Later Annelou presented an interesting recap describing the history of our ship and how it was built in the Netherlands as an oceanographic research vessel for the Royal Dutch Navy under the name of Hr. Ms. Tydeman. She showed images of the ship serving for the Dutch Navy and shared some stories of the people who worked on it. At the end of the recap, Faith Ortins had a small intervention in which she referred to the 200 anniversary of the discovery of the Weddell Sea on this date, by James Weddell in 1823. As part of this anniversary, Faith presented a commemorative plaque to the M/V Plancius. The plaque is decorated with commemorative coins of Antarctic explorers, and the plaque has an old German chart of the Antarctic made in 1906 as background. The plaque will be displayed in the Lounge and Ali received it on behalf of Crew and Staff. We should note that this was a very nice detail from Faith, and we are very grateful with her and her husband for the donation.

Today we wake up to a gentler Drake than expected. The ship was rolling during the night, but this morning it is much better. And most of our guests show up for breakfast. The sun is shining, and we have wandering albatrosses escorting Plancius.

After breakfast we start our program of lectures for the day. The first one is given by Annelou on Ice Core Drilling where she explains all the current ice core research techniques and findings in Antarctica. Her lecture is followed by Annina’s presentation on Antarctic krill. This is really the superstar of Antarctica as it represents the base of the food-web in this region. Almost all animals in Antarctica feed on krill, or on animals that feed on krill.

Lunch is served at 12:30 and we are all delighted to be able to enjoy Kabir’s excellent food in a gentle Drake. After lunch we can start to see land and the continent should provide us with some shelter. But soon after the wind picks up and the Captain must close the outside decks for a couple of hours.

Once entering the Beagle Channel, the sea becomes much calmer, and we are allowed on the outer decks again. Right on time for the orcas! We hear a message from the bridge saying that there are orcas around the ship, and Plancius stops and turns around to allow us to have a proper look at these magnificent animals. What a wonderful farewell gift from nature!

We then attend Eduardo’s lecture on Science in Antarctica where he updates us on the major scientific projects currently taking place on the white continent. After this very interesting presentation we all gather in the lounge again after a short break to watch the BBC documentary Blue Planet 2 on the Deep.

The afternoon ends with the Captain’s cocktail where Ali walks us through all the segments of our voyage, our Hotel Manager gives us the last instructions for our disembarkation tomorrow, and we raise a glass of champagne with the Captain. We finish by watching the trip slideshow which summarizes in pictures all of our experiences during these past 10 days. Time for our last plated dinner to enjoy Kabir’s last gourmet plates, and we all gather at the bar to have our last drinks. What an incredible voyage this has been.

While we enjoyed a last breakfast on board, our suitcases were taken off the ship. It is a sad moment to disembark from the Plancius, which has been a comfortable and cozy home during this unforgettable journey. We have shared many unique moments together, seen a range of rarely sighted wildlife, and made new friends. Loaded with fond memories we now must head home.

We will continue our adventures, whether it be returning home or experiencing what South America has to offer. On the pier, beside our little blue ship moored alongside in Ushuaia, we say our goodbyes, many hugs, and a few tears… and until next time, we wish each other good health and fair winds.

Thank you all for travelling with us on this voyage, for your enthusiasm, support, and good company. We really hope to see you again in the future, wherever that might be!