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Iceberg Alley, South Orkneys

Antarctica: South Orkney Islands
February 2024

Iceberg Alley

 

On the way to the Antarctic Peninsula we took shelter off the South Orkneys as a storm was passing through, and got to see amazing icebergs in Iceberg Alley and spectacular landscape in Shingle Bay.

South Orkney Islands Antarctic Prions
Antarctic Prions

 

 

From South Georgia we headed towards the Antarctic Peninsula, so a couple of days at sea. We had our second and final bio check of all the gear before arriving on Antarctica, trying to prevent inadvertent transfer of foreign matter. The first was before we got to South Georgia. After every excursion we had to vacuum the gear, pick anything off the velcro and remove any bits of grit from the ridges of the boots. We were making steady progress at 13 knots.

South Orkney Islands icebergs
Black-browed Albatross

I spent the time practising with the new camera taking photographs of birds in flight over the ocean.

On the second day a storm was brewing from the west, it was going to be quite strong so we made for the South Orkneys.

South Orkney Islands icebergs
An absolutely immense iceberg!
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs

This meant we were heading through Iceberg Alley for quite some distance - an amazing number of huge icebergs - before reaching safe anchorage in Shingle Bay.

South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
Courtesy of Keith Thompson, photographer with Quark Expeditions (cropped).
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
Treacherous waters: the ship has to avoid not only icebergs but also brash, much smaller ice fragments.
South Orkney Islands icebergs

 

 

 

 

 

The landscape is fabulous: thickly snowed mountains, glaciers tumbling into the iceberg-strewn sea.

South Orkney Islands icebergs
Courtesy of Keith Thompson, photographer with Quark Expeditions (cropped).
South Orkney Islands icebergs

 

 

 

Up to this point we hadn't seen any other ships but now two krill trawlers joined us in heading for shelter. These enormous vessels hoover up the precious krill, a vital food source for marine mammals including whales, penguins and other seabirds.

South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs

 

 

South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay



South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay
South Orkney Islands icebergs

 

South Orkney Islands icebergs

 

 

South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay

The glaciers are truly spectacular, we've seen many glaciers in Switzerland (e.g. the Aletsch), the Perito Moreno in Argentina, and the Fox in New Zealand. Here in Antarctica are the biggest, deepest expanses dropping straight into the sea - magnificent.

South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay
South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay
South Orkney Islands icebergs
South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay

 

We had a short visit to the bridge as we sailed into Shingle Bay - whales were racing in front of the ship, presumably to get out of our way! The sea was already quite choppy and got worse through the night.

I woke around 11:15pm and didn't get back to sleep until around 5 am. The captain took the ship out of the bay around midnight, at the height of the storm, he was a very good seaman and knew what he was doing but it was quite an experience. It was a violent storm, the ship was pitching and tossing dramatically, the bow slamming into the waves. I would hate to have been on one of the lower decks!

South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay

At breakfast there was still a heavy swell and progress towards the Antarctic Peninsula was quite slow, around 8 knots. It picked up through the morning, though, and by mid-morning it was much calmer and we were doing around 10 knots picking up to 12 knots at midday.

South Orkney Islands Shingle Bay

 

 

There were still icebergs, though far fewer than in iceberg alley, but the most impressive was spotted just as I was about to get into bed. Bertie, our expedition leader, made an announcement of a spectacular 5 nautical mile long (about 5.75 land-based miles) tabular iceberg - I quickly got dressed again to get out and see it!

South Orkney Islands iceberg
A 5 nautical mile-long iceberg, an amazing sight!