Here I am: South American and Antarctic Adventure! Volume II: Zaandam Cruise, Part VIII: Early Arrival in Antarctica and Dallmann Bay

The day before we got to Antarctica, we received this map from our room attendants. During our 4.5 day excursion I plotted our daily course and took notes about what we saw on this map.

Our EXC Expedition Team spent all day on the loud speaker calling out when they saw animals, or telling us about where we were going, or interesting facts about the local geology, or what we were seeing, etc. When they told us something interesting, I would write it down. Sadly, ALL of my notes were thrown out without my permission (more on this later). I was able to get a hold of a blank map, so I have been working on everything by memory alone. UGH! Wish me luck!

These various lines show where we cruised:
Blue - December 27th -- Dallmann Bay
Purple - December 28th -- Neumayer Channel and Palmer Station
Green - December 29th -- Gerlache Strait, Wilhemina Bay, Cuverville Island
Orange - December 30th -- Paradise Harbor, Gerlache Strait, and Charlotte Bay
Pink - December 31st -- Deception Island, Bransfield Strait, A57A, South Shetland Islands, King George Island, Admiralty Bay

Close up:
Blue - December 27th -- Dallmann Bay
Purple - December 28th -- Neumayer Channel and Palmer Station
Green - December 29th -- Gerlache Strait, Wilhemina Bay, Cuverville Island
Orange - December 30th -- Paradise Harbor, Gerlache Strait, and Charlotte Bay

Close up:
Pink - December 31st -- Deception Island, Bransfield Strait, A57A, South Shetland Islands, King George Island, Admiralty Bay

Again, I'm doing this all by memory, so please give me a break if I make a mistake!

AND just so you know, we took just over 4000 pictures during this 33 day trip and we took 2000 of them during the 4 1/2 days we were in Antarctica. So get ready for a photo over load!

December 27th:

Once we crossed the 60 Degree South line we officially fell under The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 and became “Expeditioneers!”

I had no idea what to expect during our time in Antarctica. Would the weather be nice? Was Antarctica just a huge sheet of ice? Would we see any penguins? Would it be COLD?!

All these questions would be answered shortly.

We knew we would be arriving at 5:00 PM in Dallmann Bay so we spent the rest of the day going to Talks by our EXC Expedition Team (A geology lecture by Bryan and one about King Penguins from Scott) and playing Team Trivia. After Team Trivia, Josh took Theo downstairs for a nap while mom and I stayed in the Crows Nest.

The first time I saw an Antarctic glacier is something I will not forget. I was up in the Crows Nest with my mom, waiting for our early arrival in Antarctica, when I looked over her shoulder and saw a huge white cloud. I did and double-take and then said, "I think that's a glacier. No wait. That's a freakin' glacier!"

We hurried over to the front of the Crows Nest (from our "spot" on the Port side) and my suspicions were confirmed! Not only was it an iceberg, but it was HUGE!

As the hours continued the iceberg got bigger and bigger and more and more began to appear. Then we saw land! And it was magnificent!

[Snow, snow, oh, so much SNOW!]

[Theo in our "spot" in the Crows Nest]

[View of Antarctica from the Crows Nest]

[The Spire]

I could not get over how tall and rocky these mountains were!

[Me and the Spire]

[Another massive iceberg - we will get closer to this one later]

[Arches in a mile-long iceberg]

[See the little white spot in the water? That is a humpback whale spout. Don't worry, we will get to see more of them close up]

[Whales!]

If it seems like these pictures repeat, you would be correct! We cruised into Dallmann Bay (located between Anvers Island and Brabant Island) and did a loop, so we left the same way we came into the bay. When we first got there it was a little overcast, but the weather cleared up and we were able to see some beautiful mountains and a ton of snow!

[Our EXC Team told us that the boat would be turning slightly to avoid a sleeping whale. Apparently, humpbacks will sleep up by the surface. You can spot them pretty easily because birds will sit on them.]

[SO MUCH SNOW!]

Josh spent most of the day out on deck, I was back and forth between the deck and the Crows Nest, and Mom, Dad, and Theo were (99% of the time) in the Crows Nest were it was nice and toasty.

I was in the Crows Nest when the EXC Expedition Team called out that there were penguins in the water on the port side! I ran out onto the deck to make sure Josh heard the announcement. Penguins on land are slow, but in the water they are FAST!

[Small splashes in the water = penguins]

While Josh was hanging over the rail trying to get pictures of the penguins, I looked directly down into the water below us and saw something big and white. I had no idea what it was, but it was getting bigger and bigger and then we saw...

A BABY HUMPBACK!

He surfaced quickly, took a breath, and went back down before anyone else could see him! WHAA?! Later that night I saw Corey (one of the EXC Expedition Team members) and showed her the picture. She was so excited that we were able to see a baby humpback! She said that the babies will get closer to the boats because they are curious, but their moms are always close by.

[Another sleeping whale... or it could be the same one. We made a loop remember?]

[Josh and I saw albatross when we were in Australia and New Zealand, so it was really fun to see them in Antarctica too! These birds can have wing spans up to 11 FEET!]

[More whales]

We saw this iceberg when we first entered Dallmann Bay. Scott, the EXC Expedition Team leader, announced that we would be getting close to it, so I went out on deck to get a closer look (Josh was already there, of course!).

Scott said that the iceberg was probably flat at one point and then collapsed. So the left side use to be in the water.