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Antarctica Exhibit { 22 images } Created 9 Oct 2017

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  • ‘Close Encounters’ – Errera Channel, Antarctica<br />
We encountered two humpback whales while cruising the Errera Channel near Danco Island in our zodiac.  They repeatedly swam directly below us and then surfaced, sometimes rolling with a flipper extending above the water and other times breaching with their heads above the water looking at us.  Amazing and majestic creatures.  A zodiac feels pretty small when they are up close.
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  • ‘Blue Arch’ – Arrowsmith Peninsula, South of Antarctic Circle<br />
Calm waters result in an almost perfect reflection from this      iceberg. As ice get buried further in the glacier, it gets         compressed and drives out air bubbles. Without the scattering    effect of air bubbles, light can penetrate ice more deeply.  To           the human eye, ancient glacial ice acts like a filter, absorbing            red and yellow light and reflecting blue light, creating the        beautiful blue hues of the iceberg.
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  • ‘Blue Keel’ – Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica<br />
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Weddell seals catch a ride on this iceberg off the Fish Islands.  Submerged portions of the icebergs can appear many colors from light green to deep blue.
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  • ‘Ice Island Cruise’ – Yalour Islands, Antarctica<br />
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Gentoo penguins ride on an ice sheet as it takes its place alongside large pinnacled and drydocked icebergs. The tallest of the two icebergs in this image is approximately 90 m (300 ft) high. The Yalour Islands is a group of islands and rocks 2.4 km (1.5 mi) long in the south part of the Wilhelm Archipelago.
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  • ‘Greeter’ – Yalour Islands, Antarctica<br />
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As we approached this piece of sheet ice in our zodiac, a single Gentoo penguin walked towards the edge to great us.  Placing himself between the zodiac and the rest of the colony, he continued to stand watch as we slowly motored away.
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  • ‘Fade’ – Crystal Sound, Antarctica<br />
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The sun rays hit the waterline and light up these blocky, pinnacled and wedged icebergs as the seas grow rougher in Crystal Sound from exposure to the open Antarctic Ocean to the west.
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  • ‘The Crown’ – Arrowsmith Peninsula, South of Antarctic Circle<br />
This pinnacled domed iceberg changed shapes with each vantage point as we circumnavigated it in our zodiac.  This view provided     the most spectacular angle for the crown.
    7O2A3045.jpg
  • ‘Iceberg Graveyard’ – Pléneau Bay, Antarctica<br />
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Pléneau Bay lies just south of the Lemaire Channel, separating Hovgaard Island and the Antarctic Peninsula.  In the protected bay a so-called “iceberg graveyard” can be found here where bits of large tabular icebergs and older, rolled icebergs have run aground.  Many of these icebergs have originated from as far south as the Ross Ice Shelf.
    7O2A1077.jpg
  • Wedge Blades - Arrowsmith Peninsula, South of Antarctic Circle<br />
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Wedge iceberg that has rolled reveals these erosion marks and scalloping now on the vertical side as it drifts and cuts through the water.
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  • 'Deep Within' - Arrowsmith Peninsula, South of Antarctic Circle<br />
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Dark blues and purple color appears as the light enters this cavern of the iceberg. Ice melt and sea water flow through this drydocked iceberg as it pitches and rolls in the waves.
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  • ‘Moonrise Over Midnight Glow’ – Grandidier Channel, Antarctica<br />
After hosting the Ukrainian scientist from the Akademik Vernadsky Station for a BBQ aboard our vessel, we turned north and sailed through the Grandidier Channel.  At around midnight, the     afterglow cast soft pink light on the water and icebergs just as the moon was rising.
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  • ‘Ice Crocodile’ – Fish Islands, Antarctica<br />
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The diversity of ice, both above and below each iceberg, is incredible.  As they melt, turnover, and are eroded by the wave action, unique shapes appear.  Here, within a drydocked shaped iceberg, I found a tunnel area with meltwater and scalloped ice.  The attached ice piece protruding from the meltwater resembled the head of a crocodile laying wait.
    _57A9991.jpg
  • 'Boreas Berg' - Like the Greek God of cold and winter, this feature in a iceberg with its dark blue cavern and lights emanating from cracks above, takes on an haunting visual image from this angle.  As you move away from this vantage point, the 'face' disappears.
    _57A7198.jpg
  • 'Trapped' - This amazing blue ice portion of a large iceberg appears to contain a face trapped in the ice.  This iceberg was also, the home of the Ice Crocodile.
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  • Orange & Blue - Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica<br />
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Moon rises over the sheet ice and icebergs near the Antarctic Circle.
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  • 'Abandoned I' - Deception Island, Antarctica<br />
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Whale oil storage containers fade into the landscape as they corrode back into their basis elements.
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  • 'Abandoned II' - Deception Island, Antarctica<br />
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A tractor lost in volcanic ash and sand fights a losing battle against the harsh elements of Antarctica.
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  • 'Abandoned III - Deception Island, Antarctica<br />
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Abandoned quarters of whalers who lived on Deception Island in the early 1900s.  The British held control of Deception Island until 1967 when they were forced to evacuate due to a volcanic eruption.  Its unique landscape comprises barren volcanic slopes, steaming beaches and ash-layered glaciers. It has a distinctive horse-shoe shape with a large flooded caldera. It is one of the only places in the world where vessels can sail directly into the center of a restless volcano.
    7O2A3837.jpg
  • 'The Struggle' - Deception Island, Antarctica<br />
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Timbers from the original whaling station quarters construction weather against the salty, wet and cold condition of Antarctica.
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  • 'Abandoned IV' - Deception Island, Antarctica<br />
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Abandoned quarters of whalers who lived on Deception Island in the early 1900s.  The British held control of Deception Island until 1967 when they were forced to evacuate due to a volcanic eruption.  Its unique landscape comprises barren volcanic slopes, steaming beaches and ash-layered glaciers. It has a distinctive horse-shoe shape with a large flooded caldera.
    7O2A3832.jpg
  • 'Final Resting Place' - Deception Island, Antarctica<br />
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For these two men and many others, Deception Island, is the final resting place.  Having sailed far south of their homelands, whalers, explorers and researchers are buried on this volcanic island.
    7O2A3774.jpg
  • ‘Last Light’ – Lemaire Channel, Antarctica<br />
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The last light of the day hit the mountain peaks as our skilled captain maneuvers between icebergs. The Lemaire Channel is an 11 km (7mi) long passage that runs from False Cape Renard to Cape Cloos, separating Booth Island from the Antarctic continent.   At its narrowest, the channel is less than 800 m  (0.5 mi) wide with towering peaks like this one in excess of 600 m (2,000 ft) above sea level.
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