Antarctica, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil
Antarctica, The Gullet
Late in the afternoon of our 4th day in Antarctica, our captain chose to navigate the narrow passage called the Gullet. This icy waterway divides Hansen Island from the Antarctic mainland. The Gullet is frequently choked with drift ice, sometimes making it impassable. The ice wasn't too thick that afternoon, so we proceeded down the Gullet very slowly and deliberately, at one point stopping to carefully assess the ice ahead. Our trusty ship, the World Voyager, while not an icebreaker, was structured to handle drift ice. After our brief stop, we inched our way forward through the tightest and most ice-laden stretch. The captain warned us that we might hear ice scaping along the sides of the ship—and that I surely did hear! But we made it through, safe and sound, to the southern tip of Hansen Island and the northernmost point of Marguerite Bay, where clear evening skies treated us to one of the most beautiful vistas that I have ever seen.
Here are some photos:
Did I mention that the Gullet was filled with drift ice? These icebergs took on some fantastical shapes.
As I stood on my balcony—wrapped as always in my parka in the sub-freezing temperatures!—I saw wave after wave of Antarctic Shags flying by, all lined up and all heading south down the Gullet.
The only bird I saw that was headed northbound was this solitary Southern Giant Petrel. And it lived up to its name—it was big! I'd say it was at least half again bigger than the shags, and the shags are no small birds. Google tells me Southern Giant Petrels can have a wingspan of 7 feet! This one glided just a few inches above the water for as far as I could see it—it never flapped it wings even once.
This is where all the shags were going. Their colony was the only large stretch of bare rock in the entire Gullet. There were so many shags there, they spread beyond the rock and up the hillside onto the ice.
When we emerged from the southern end of the Gullet, we were treated to this breathtaking vista looking south from just off the southern cape of Hansen Island. OMG, what a beautiful place!
This was the southernmost point of our journey. We had reached 67° 09' S, some 290 km, or 180 miles, south of the Antarctic Circle. This is by far the farthest south that I have ever been, and likely the farthest south I will ever be. Wow.