Breaking The Ice

On 15th December, we passed 60 °  south which officially means that we are in Antarctica! The day unfolded like no other on board - whilst climbing up onto Monkey Island, I caught a glimpse of dorsal fins in my peripheral vision. As I hurried onto the deck, Ryan had already spotted a male orca, two females and then.... a calf surfaced right next to its mother. The group were so close to the boat that   we could see them perfectly.  Orca,  Orchinus orca,  are a species with a cosmopolitan distribution. Within the orca species, different ecotypes have been identified according to ocean basins ie. North Atlantic ecotypes, North Pacific and Antarctic. Ecotypes arise due to evolutionary processes which generate genetically distinct populations that can no longer interbreed. Orca ecotypes often look different, prey upon different food sources, maintain geographically distinct ranges and even adopt different vocal communication. When implementing conservation meas...

The change in weather has been dramatic since leaving the Equator. Almost overnight, we went from wearing shorts and t-shirts to wrapping up in scarves and gloves! The temperature rapidly plummeted from >30 °C  degrees in mid November to 5 °C by the end of the month. At 54 ° South of the Equator,  we arrived at our first stop, the beautiful oasis of South Georgia. South Georgia and a collective chain of islands, the South Sandwich Islands, are British Overseas  Territory and are uninhabited except from the government officers and people living and   working at the British Antarctic's research stations. These islands are located in the South Atlantic Ocean and experience the Antarctic Convergence-  a major transition zone in the ocean w hich separates  Antarctic and sub-Antarctic water .  The convergence  curve continuously encircles Antarctica  and varies in latitude seasonally. When we hit 49 ° S, the temperature dropp...

Life on the JCR can tend to feel slightly like a holiday but fortunately, we have four excellent field guides on board who have been organising a series of fascinating training sessions. First up, we simulated a crevasse rescue and what a view we had! It was quite difficult to project ourselves into Antarctic conditions whilst kitting up in 27 degree heat! Nevertheless, with our partners, we tied a figure of eight onto our belay loop and proceeded to coil loops of rope over our shoulders. Adding security in the form of a clove hitch allowed us to re-distribute the point of attachment from around our lower legs to avoid being pulled from our waist into a crevasse. We continued to set up a pully system using jumars and a prusik. This system allowed us to hoist a weighted box as if to simulate a rescue of our partner who had fallen down a crevasse. Tying the safety clove hitch- Photo credit: Ed Luke Our next field guide session was orientated around setting up camp in the fi...