Voyage to Antarctica
J Berg B15J - one giant iceberg
14 Feb – As a massive tabular iceberg towered over us, it felt like sailing in the English Channel beneath the White Cliffs of Dover. A bone chilling ‘katabatic’ wind was blowing from the South Pole, across the top of the iceberg towards us.
All icebergs longer than 10 nautical miles (18km) are named by the US National Ice Centre (NIC) starting with the letter A, B, C or D according to which segment of Antarctica it was originally sighted in.
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Racing to beat the storm
I watched from the safety and warmth of the bridge as the crew worked hard to haul the net in just before the storm built up to full fury. Snow blizzards swirled wildly around the ship as the Captain tried to steady the bow into the wind.
Antarctica is an extremely important element of the world's weather system – it is the great storm factory of the Southern Ocean.
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Can I - shall I jump?
8 Feb – A lone Adelie penguin wondered if it was safe to join his mates on the other side. When these small icebergs or ‘bergy bits’ are backlit by the sun the transparent ice blocks show off brilliant and translucent shades of blues and turquoise.
Named after the wife of the French explorer Durmont d'Urville, Adelie penguins, at about 70cm tall, are the smallest species penguins living in the Antarctic.
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White lily pond in the Ross Sea sculpture garden
As the RV Tangaroa zigzagged through the broken pack ice barrier, I was inspired by the amazing shapes and colours of the sculptured ice. This scene on a bright Antarctic summer’s day, of pancake ice between the broken pack ice, made me think of white water lilies in a pond.
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Snow petrel over an iceberg
I watched beautiful, pure white seabirds flying alongside the ship and over a 'bergy bits' (small icebergs about 2m high) perhaps hoping for an easy meal. This painting was inspired by a magnificent photograph taken by Chazz Marriott, one of the scientists on the voyage.
Snow Petrels are beautiful birds with white plumage, black beak and black feet.
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