Updates from Sam
A misconception I had about icebergs before coming to Antarctica is that they all looked the same – all crisp, white triangles floating on the ocean. Instead, I can report that icebergs come in many colours: pastel, sky-blue hues on the surface; rich navy crevasses; red veneer from blossoming algae; and an occasional patch of yellow snow from a passing seal. And when the light is right, and it catches a lip of ice just beneath the surface, the turquoise shine makes you feel like you’re gazing out over a bay in the Caribbean.
This tropical feeling is the only way I can justify our decision to go in for a swim.
The day up until this point had been an absolute lesson in ticking things off our Antarctic bucket lists: a close-up encounter with a chubby-faced Weddell Seal; a quick snowball fight on the climb to a Gentoo colony on Demoy Point; and a trip out to the famous Penguin Post Office at Port Lockroy . Janey also managed – in her magical Tardis of a kitchen – to produce a beautiful British take on a Southern US dish of grits (polenta), ham, and eggs for lunch (as a Kentucky native, I whole-heartedly approved).
And then – back on the boat, with the sun’s rays occasionally bursting through the clouds – we decided to hop in our swimmies and take a plunge in the frigid bay.
We cannonball off, the freezing water hits like a punch to the chest, and we scramble to the ladder. It’s brutally cold – even more than I expected – but a G&T (with ancient glacier ice) and one of Janey’s feasts await us back on board, with the promise of an on-ship visit from the Lockroy team as well. So you can be sure we won’t be staying cold for too long…
