Voyage 3 for the Aurora Australis in the 2009/10 summer has been one of initial rough seas across the Southern Ocean on the way to Davis station, followed by light winds, smooth seas and a lack of pack ice, allowing for a speedy and spectacular trip from Davis to Mawson. Daily situation reports (sitreps) from the voyage management team have painted a great picture of what the expeditioners have been seeing and experiencing on the voyage.
Some photos and excerpts from the sitreps describe the stunning sights from Davis to Mawson. Favourable weather and ice conditions allowed the ship to take a more southerly route than usual, 'cutting the corner' to save many hours of transit time, with the added bonus of some spectacular views of a rarely visited area.
"This morning at around 0400 the ship crossed over the Fram Bank - a relatively shallow stretch of water which icebergs from the Amery ice shelf and the other glaciers that empty into Prydz Bay, have a tendency to ground themselves on. We were greeted by walls of ice on each side of the ship as the bridge team navigated between massive bergs. The sunshine and clear skies made for a truly awesome sight, which lasted most of the morning watch."
Ice and calm seas between Davis and Mawson
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Bergs between Davis and Mawson
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Bergs on way from Davis to Mawson
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Big berg near Fram Bank
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View of bergs from Aurora Australis
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More bergs between Davis and Mawson
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"Late breaking news: I didn't think it could get any better, but as I write this, the ship is currently 15 nautical miles off Cape Rouse and we can just see on the horizon the (Captain) Murray and Scullin Monoliths, SPECTACULAR! Hopefully we will see more as we pass the Gustav Bull Mountains in the coming hours. "
"Further to yesterday's late breaking news, we had the pleasure of a close passage along the Lars Christensen Coast. Highlights along the way included, the Murray and Scullin monoliths jutting out of the icescape. This is a very rare sight indeed as the Aurora usually transits much further to the north to avoid the ice pack. The Murray Monolith is a box shaped set of geological features that rise 243 metre into the air, Scullin is a crescent shaped feature rising even higher into the air at 419 metres. We passed about 15 nautical miles to the north of both of these features and even at this distance they looked spectacular. Apparently the Scullin Monolith is a natural amphitheatre that is home to hundreds of thousands of birds."
Scullin monolith
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Murray monolith, Lars Christensen Coast
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"After the pleasure of our cruise across the Fram Bank we continued to encounter a plethora of bergs as we closed Mawson. The real highlight was a close encounter with a couple of Jade bergs, glowing green in the sunlight. The current theory is that this colour occurs when the sea water under glaciers containing algae freezes to the bottom of the glacier, so when the ice calves off the glacier to form an iceberg, and then topples over, the green ice of the bottom is exposed. A very simple explanation and I'm sure to be corrected, but take my word for it the jade berg is an awesome sight to see." Further information about why icebergs can be coloured and have stripes.
Mawson station
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