It is now two weeks since I jetted off on my adventure
South, and as I write this is feels like I’m going through a patch of
turbulence again. However I’m not on a
plane - I am being jolted about as our ship, the JCR (James Clark Ross) makes
her way through sea ice around the South Orkneys. It is breathtakingly beautiful here.
As the JCR pushes floes aside, krill is thrown up from ice
shelves below the water and pure white Snow Petrels swoop down to pick up an
easy meal. They are silhouetted as they
climb against the low dark clouds as flecks of darting bright white. The scene around is monochrome, with the
water an inky black and the ice floes glowing blindingly white even in the
gloom of the clouds. The snow flecked
black ranges of the South Orkneys rise majestically from the ice but the peaks are
truncated by the clouds. Whispers of
colour are provided by blue glacial ice in the mountains and icebergs.
 |
| Coronation Island, South Orkneys. It really was black, white and blue! |
Up on the Monkey Island (the highest accessible part of the
ship outside) the sea ice stretches as far as the eye can see. It will take us almost 24hrs to crawl our way
out to open seas again and onwards to South Georgia.
