Dec. 24 – Mrs. Chippy Tanning in the Ross Sea
I just can’t imagine things being much more perfect for a day in Antarctica – glass smooth seas, bright skies, towering icebergs, pack ice full of penguins and seals – this will be a day to remember. Mr. Miller and I spent a full 3 hours out on the helipad – just watching the animals and appreciating the spectacular reflections the ice and sky made on the mirrorlike finish of the Ross Sea.
It definitely was a full sunglasses and SPF 30 kind of day –
We’re clipping right along towards McMurdo – making about 12 knots even when we hit stretches of up to a mile or more of solid seaice – she is truly an amazing icebreaker to see in action. Here is our current position data:
Latitude: 71 degrees 17 minutes south
Longitude: 156 degrees 36 minutes west
Air temperature: -1.3 degrees celcius
Water temperature: -1.6 degrees celcius
Wind speed: 5 meters per second
No sunrise or sunset – just 24 hours of daylight
Despite the fact that at times there is nothing to see other than miles of ice and snow, the area does support a large population of seals and penguins. Here are just a few that we’ve seen from the boat today – some crabeater seals
We’ve also seen quite a few Adelie penguins – here are a few shots of them
So time to get ready for our evening Christmas celebration – for lunch we were treated to luttfish and potatoes – and the Swedes have something even more celebratory planned for the evening. Should be the perfect end to a wonderful day.
We’ve also seen the two kinds of petrels that are native to the Ross Sea – here is the Antarctic Petrel
