After visiting Grytviken, once all were back on board, the captain announced that guests had asked if we could go past Iceberg A23a. Once again, the itinerary was changed.
Making this change to the itinerary, meant that we would have 2 days, instead of just one, at sea to get to The Falklands. It also resulted in one day less on the islands so we would miss our excursion to see the King Penguins at Bluff Cove. But, making the change was exciting as we would see the world’s largest iceberg in the Southern Ocean, A23a. It is larger than Greater London, measuring approximately 3500kms2 (1400miles2) and weighing a trillion tons.
In 1986 this iceberg calved from the Antarctic shelf and remained stuck on the seabed until 2013 when it became trapped on a huge, rotating cylinder of water, called a Taylor Column, in the Weddell Sea for another 9 years. During 2022 and 2023, it began crossing the Weddell Sea along the Antarctic Peninsula. By 03 March 2025 it had run aground again 50 miles (75kms) south of the island of South Georgia. This was where we were now headed.
Route followed by A23a. South Georgia is the island at the top right
Route followed by A23a. South Georgia is the island at the top right
When the Captain announced the diversion, he told us that we would reach A23a between 04:00 and 05:00 so recommended that we rise early. We did just that only to discover that all we could see was a thick fog. We sailed near the iceberg for most of the morning, but the fog didn’t lift. Sadly, we got no photos.
The two sea days once again were not spent reading and relaxing. There was too much to do and learn. On the first day we had two documentaries – a National Geographic documentary on “A New Age of Exploration”. Today, there seem to be no limits to what we can do in discovering the world around us through technology. The 2nd one was entitled “Shackleton’s Frozen Hell”. By now, from a lecture and a Daily Viking write-up, we knew the 1914 story of Ernest Shackleton and his team whose ship ran aground in the Antarctic Peninsula and were stuck there for almost 2 years but seeing it on film was quite an eye-opener. There was also a lecture by Dr Tim Gerber on “Antarctic Plants: Survival in the Cold”. Wow, does he love his algae, mosses and lichen. Yes, penguins and seals are great but these minute plants were what he wanted us to truly appreciate. They are the only flora of this harsh continent and so different from what existed 2 million years ago.
Daily Viking
The main story was headed A Continent of Extremes and it was about South America. It is the continent with the world’s largest river system, the Amazon and the world’s driest desert, the Atacama. Some of the world’s highest mountain peaks are found here with the highest being Mt Aconcagua at 22 000ft (6706m). It stretches across almost 7 million sq miles (18 million sq kms), has 12 countries, all of which speak Spanish except for Brazil where Portuguese is spoken. The population is 436 million, the majority of whom reside in Brazil. There are many indigenous cultures such as the Incas who built Machu Picchu in the 15th century and is considered one of the most remarkable building achievements in the ancient world.
Today, there was not a story on an animal nor a bird but on Lichen. Headed the slow, sleepy life of lichen. Very few plants have the adaptations to survive in the Antarctic but lichen has done so, very well. It is a symbiosis between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium. They are dormant in winter and start growing again once temperatures start warming up. They thrive on dark, heat-absorbing rocks and grow very slowly, about a centimetre/100 years. There are about 350 species of lichen which have the amazing ability to protect themselves from UV radiation and can survive long periods of drought.
Another day at sea
On our second sea day after a rather rough night, we woke up feeling a bit seasick but nothing serious. The sea stayed rough for most of the day. We got an opportunity to tour the ship’s hangar and learnt some more about the zodiacs, Special Ops Boats and the submarine. All the scientists were there to tell us about them. We also got to visit their Science Laboratory which was on the same level.
The submarine support boat
Our learning opportunities comprised an e-bird survey and Wildlife Watch on deck with our binoculars and a scientist. I did not prove to be too great with that. A discussion on how Viking Expedition ships are designed and built was very interesting. There were two documentaries and a lecture, all of which were streamed to our room TV if we preferred to watch there. The documentaries were “Ocean Wilds – Gathering of Giants” which told of one man’s fascination with whales and the other, “A Penguin’s life”, a story of survival and reproduction in the harshest climate on Earth. The lecture, “Science on the Southern Continent” was by Loreen Nieuwenhuis. Research has been taking place in Antarctica since the first explorers arrived and has continued at all the different stations and even from space.
The Daily Viking
The Falklands comprised the lead story today, its topography and sheep farming. These islands Spanish name is Islas Malvinas. They are a self-governing British overseas territory. There 2 islands – East and West Falkland plus about 200 smaller islands. 400-million year old geological findings have confirmed that these islands broke away from the large continent of Gondwana which became Africa about 200-million years ago. The Falklands have a generally cold climate making it a suitable for sheep farming. Sheep from New Zealand were introduced in 1860 and have flourished ever since. Stanley, formerly Port Stanley, is the only town with sheep farming being the activity on the rest of the islands. There are usually about 6000 sheep on a farm with one third comprising breeding ewes.
The bird of which we learnt some more detail was the Emperor Penguin. They stand up to 50ins (130cms) tall and weigh between 55-100lbs (25-45kgs) and can dive to 1850ft (560m). They can stay down in the deep water for up to 20 minutes. They cuddle together to keep warm, particularly in the Antarctic wind, moving around and changing places to ensure that each has a turn in the middle of the group. When a female lays an egg, she leaves to feed on krill and fish for up to 2 months while the male cares for the egg by balancing it on his feet beneath a feathery nook called a breeding pouch.
