Information
Comments
Today saw the expeditioners and crew enjoying an easier day without operations and with the vessel traversing through intermittent fields of sea ice, with a variety of wildlife regularly sighted from the bridge and forecastle (the very front of the ship). Whales, Antarctic bird life and seals have been seen throughout the day, including two leopard seals lazing on neighbouring ice floes.
Leopard seals are one of the largest seals to be found in Antarctic waters, and apart from Orca, are also one of the largest predators within the polar food chain. Their bodies are long and sleek when compared with other seal species, and they have a distinctive head shape with enormous gaping jaws which make them instantly identifiable from all other seals in these waters. This head shape often leads observers to draw comparisons with the familiar meat-eating 'raptor' dinosaurs from the movies.
The vessel has made good time on the transit between Davis Station and Mawson Station, and we expect to be arriving at the 'Mawson approach' around an hour and a half's sail from the station tomorrow mid-morning. In order to align the vessel with local Mawson time, we adopted a further time zone change overnight, and will do so again tonight – placing us six hours behind Hobart local time / AEST. Those expeditioners who've taken the time to head up to the bridge this evening after dinner have been rewarded with a stunning Antarctic skyline to our West, similar to a sunset – although we won't see any true sunset for several more days while we remain this far South - and large angular icebergs on the horizon presenting striking silhouettes against the golden backdrop.
We'll be transiting past an area known as 'iceberg alley' around 1am vessel-time tomorrow morning, which a few lucky (and sleepless) expeditioners may still be awake to witness. The alley is a region where the seabed is shallower than the surrounding waters, and many large icebergs ground themselves while drifting with the current – the rows of icy behemoths making for some extremely unique and picturesque scenery, rarely seen other than from scientific research vessels such as the Aurora Australis when sea-ice conditions permit.
Tomorrow the Aurora Australis will make contact with the team at Mawson Station, to ascertain the extent of any remaining sea ice within horseshoe harbour opposite the station site, and to finalise planning for the resupply operations which will be the central focus of the voyage.
Cheers
Mark & Fred
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.