The wind was so wild overnight, the Polar Pioneer had to motor back and forth along the Penola Strait without being able to stop to anchor. Around 6:30am we were able to anchor near Pleneau Island. The elephant’s graveyard is one thing; Pleneau Island is known as the iceberg graveyard – a giant eddy where the icebergs collect.
I felt a little cheated in a way because after struggling with clothing, 15-20kg of equipment and a dry bag, I was amongst the last to front up and so was on the convalescents’ zodiac which stayed out for a much shorter time than the rest and, for example, did not get to see a leopard seal. Still, the views of icy seascapes were spectacular enough, as you will see. For the most part they need little explanation.
Natural iceberg sculpture
Giant ice face
Suspended ice sculpture
Island of ice
Is it a dog or a lion or General De Gaulle?
Ice flake detail on an iceberg, looking up
Ice, texture and light
GPS location (green arrow).
Pockmarked ice gleaming in front of an approaching storm
The ship! The scale! Can you see the ship?
GPS location (Green arrow for the location of the zodiac).
Faces in the ice - and the storm is coming
Views through the ice
Iceberg and mountain
Cloud descending
Iceberg, bergy bit and mountains
Sometime around 1pm, we headed back to Vernadsky.
Murray Foote 