Hahn Savaged by Rough Seas off South Shetland Islands

December 5, 2009
Bransfield Strait, South Shetland Islands
S 62˚ 04′ W 57˚ 22′

Storms have been battering Clelia II for several days, wreaking havoc on the planned itinerary. When I woke this morning to a force “eight” gale, I saw big tabular icebergs and big white waves smashing against them. The wind was whipping foam and spray across the sea in ragged lines. And, by chance, my first views of the day included a breaching humpback whale, splashing perhaps 150 yards from my cabin windows.

We were chased away from South Georgia by storms and circumstances back on the night of December 1, and the bridge officers pointed the ship towards the South Orkney Islands. Despite the rough sea conditions, we managed a visit by Zodiac to the Coronation Island two nights ago. It was colder and meaner, as expected, since we had crossed over into true Antarctic waters and latitudes, but there was much to see anyway. Chinstrap penguins were tending their nests and waddling in from the ocean, a thousand seabirds wheeled against dramatic cliffs plastered in ice, Weddell seals hauled out and snoozed on the rocks. It was good to stretch legs, even if for just a couple of hours, since our next landfall was then at least a day away.

We’d hoped to visit Elephant Island, where the crew of Endurance had endured several difficult months –waiting to find out whether Shackleton had made it through to organize a rescue. But last night we contented ourselves instead with a distant, murky view of Elephant Island’s steep sides. Sea-ice conditions wouldn’t allow closer inspection. Plenty of people were out on the decks anyway, pointing cameras into 40 knot winds in order to capture waves, bergs and birds.

We are currently prowling the South Shetland Islands, hoping to get the boats in the water should there be any let-up in the winds. If not, we’ll continue our lecture and feeding schedule… both of which have been fine. Peter Hillary has related a number of fine explorations he was involved in. I showed slides of the search expeditions I participated in on Mount Everest, looking for some sign of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. And the ship’s historians and naturalists have worked to educate us on the marine life and storied places we’ll sample in the coming days along the Antarctic Peninsula.

Dave Hahn