Antartica Day 4, Part 1: Paradise Harbour
- Sabrina Figliomeni
- Feb 22, 2016
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 14, 2019
Weather: 8 degrees Celsius, Sunny, Amazing, Wind = NOPE!
Whoah! We got hit with a BEAUTIFUL day! WOW! Blue skies, not a single whisper of wind, the snow and ice reflected in perfect glass-like conditions. Could've stared at it for hours, but first - breakfast!
We geared up for our first dive of the day, a wall next to Almirante Brown Antarctic Base (this is the Argentinian Research Station in Paradise Harbour - it's still functioning!). This wasn't a very deep wall, but beautiful kelp (MASSIVE kelp), and a great assortment of hard and soft corals. We stumbled upon some spidery looking thing - made a mental note to check out what it is, I seriously have no clue! Visibility hovering around the ten-foot mark.
I'm getting the hang of getting my ass dragged back into the zodiac, so graceful. A lovely reminder that diving is not a glamorous sport. After the first dive, we did a quick shore visit to say hi to the delightfully stinky penguins. We didn't get to tour the Base itself, as it was their day off (they were closed!). We seem to be here right when all the penguin babies are getting a little older, and some of the adults are molting (and looking abjectly humiliated by the process. I don't blame them.). They are absolutely fascinating little fluffs. Back to Ortelius for lunch!
Second dive - it's time to find an iceberg to dive! You gotta pick the right berg. You don't want one that's making popping or cracking noises - that thing is getting ready to calve, and could run your day. Definitely don't want one that's oddly shaped on top, if it's a little top heavy one way or the other, well, there could be a flipping or calving on its way. And preferably a floater, not one that's grounded (yeah, floater, I know. I made a poop joke.).
We happened across a super specimen, and jumped in. Let's be clear: I don't care how good your buoyancy is, diving next to an ice berg is WEIRD. You're weighted and set for diving in salt water, all nice and neutrally buoyant. Then you get close to this giant chunk of fresh water that's slowly melting, and you're now swimming in something that's a little more fresh than salty - whoah there! Your buoyancy will pretty much go to shit the first time! Keep an eye out for that. I got nice and close, and obviously licked the darn thing. So, neat to note - icebergs are fizzy when you lick them! Makes sense, dissolved gases as they melt, but such an interesting thing to experience!
Switched to snorkeling for the latter portion of the dive to try and get some surface shots of the berg (vis still around 5-10 feet). A few other divers continued from below, but after about five minutes they popped right back up when they heard a suspicious 'POP!' - after just experiencing a calving iceberg, they were taking no chances. So they joined the snorkel party pretty quick. We played around with some random bits of floating sea ice ("Look at me! I have my own ice berg! It's mine!"), then went cruising around in the zodiac a bit. I can't even convey how flat the water was, it was absolutely ridiculous. We came across a pair of crabeater seals taking a luxurious nap in the sun (on an iceberg, of course), one of them took the time to lazily lift his head and flap his fin at us. He promptly went back to nap land.
Our guide took this opportunity to kill the engine, and just let us sit and enjoy the silence around us. We watched the seals nap, heard a myriad of bird calls that we have never experienced before; in the distance some ice sheet calved, crashing down into the water below, and the sun warmed our smiles, frosty from the 1 degree water. To call it the most peaceful moment of the day would be a gross understatement. Even Boat #2 (Aptly named Team Russia/Poland - love those guys) was silent, an odd break to their raucous laughter (which would always make Team Canada break out giggling).
One more stop before heading back to the boat - we found a reasonably flat berg, and we all decided it would be a grand idea to jump on it. Our guide beached the zodiac (harder than it sounds) just long enough for us to scramble onto the berg, and we were pleasantly thrilled to discover that there was a little hollow on the berg that was full of water, like some weird wading pool. We acted like idiots for a spell, jumped (slipped) back into the zodiac, then headed back to the boat for a shower and the best dinner possible: BBQ dinner on the heli-pad. Oh, and to get ready for tonight's endeavor: camping.
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