“Antarctica is like meeting a mass murderer who looks nice. At least in the Arctic
you know you're meeting a mass murderer”.-Robert Swan who has walked to
both poles.
Our last day of visiting Antarctica and it was a very special place indeed. Elephant Island and infamous place where 22 men spent 4 1/2 months surviving the winter under their overturned lifeboats.
We came around to the north side of the island and saw how barren and raw this island was as the winds and the heavy swell pounded it at all times. The Captain was able to maneuver the ship close to the glacier face and we were able to get the zodiacs down and take us for a tour of this spit of rock that holds so much historical value. The glacier face was menacing as always, threatening to calve at any time. We made our way past all the feeding Cape petrels and got up close to the rocky shoreline of land with waves pounding unforgivingly. The penguins were oblivious to the sounds and sights of the waves and ice smashing along the coast. We slowly cruised on both sides, imagining the deprivations and depressing atmosphere that would have
prevailed among the men. It is an amazing feat of strength for their leader at that time, Frank Wild, who kept the men positive about the escape and would start the mornings with his statement “Lash up and stow men, the Boss will be coming today”. This never say die attitude, helped the men cling to a thread of hope as time went by on this God forsaken island. On August 30, 1916, a ship was spotted in the distance and their dreams of survival were coming true. Ernest Shackleton, Tom Crean, and Frank Worsley arrived on the Chilean ship the Yelcho to get the men off the island and safely back to civilization.
As we returned to the ship we all realized how lucky we were to see this historic spit of land and how few get the chance to do so.
In the afternoon, John gave an educational presentation on the huge problem of longline fishing and the destruction of Albatross from this practice. We must hope that this useless slaughter of such a graceful and beautiful bird comes to end very soon. GAP is working toward this goal, supporting the ‘Save the Albatross Fund’. Frank later gave a presentation on ‘The March of the Penguins’, a look into the life of the most impressive bird on the planet, the Emperor penguin. This amazing species takes on whatever the Antarctic can dish out at them through the harsh winter. An amazing feat of survival in the toughest place on earth.
It was time to head north, and see what the Drake Passage would have in store for
us. Many of us would be busy getting our journals updated and checking out all our
pictures as we leave this most beautiful of continents.
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