22.02.2013 - Steaming towards the Bransfield Strait

22.02.2013 (Friday). When I go up, and outside, I am surprised how little we have progressed. Rosamel Island, which we could distinctly see yesterday evening  is still behind us, and not so far. Soon after its epic fight against the last icefloe described in the previous post of this blog, the Polarstern entered again into the ice  and we had a shaky night. The open water was just a huge polynya. It is only at dawn that the Polarstern definitely left the ice. Now the sun is shining bright in a blue sky on the open sea and the surrounding land masses covered by snow and glaciers. Not as beautiful as yesterday evening but still truly majestic. Apparently I have missed a wonderful sunrise - too early for me. 

Early in the afternoon we return on the upper deck. We cross a Brazilian oceanographic ship heading south, as we are steaming northwards. This is the first and only ship we have seen since our departure from Punta Arenas. Really nice view of icebergs drifting on open water. Wonderful glaciers too. And the sun is shining generously. We were really sun-starved during the first part of the cruise and this has affected my mood and that of colleagues. Now I am feeling happy. Enrique Isla points out to me that the glaciers reaching the sea are actually frozen rivers, slowly flowing into the ocean as icebergs depart from them. We reach the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. All at once, we get a violent gust of wind in the face.The wind blow with fastly increasing strength and trails of foam lacerate the sea. It is no longer possible too stay long outside and I go back inside around 14:30. 

Tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. 

 At 17:15, I see by the window, that we are in full open sea, far from land. We get waves sideway.

In the evening, we order the samples from the last stations. I remark that I made a mistake in the labelling and we have to change a lot of labels. At 22:00 I go to the fitness room, then I go relax a bit in the red saloon and I go to bed around 24:00. 
(Cédric)

Friday 22.02.13

Another beautiful day. The Agassiz trawl was planned for 14 pm, but I soon understand that it will again be delayed to the next day. We apparently had to face other areas of thick ice during the night and arrived at our station with about 6h delay. We have to deal with the randomness of the conditions, which makes planning quite difficult. 

Outside, the sun still shines over the islands of the Bransfield Strait. The landscape is different than yesterday. On the right side, a long stretch of iced land, on the left, and elongated mountainous island, all made of steep rock and ice. In between, icebergs of all shapes and heights. We’re in open-water now, steaming to our next station.  Suddenly, someone spots a red dot in the horizon. In all this white and blue, this unnatural red color is quite surprising. It’s the brasilian ice-breaker!  It really gave a weird impression to see other human beings in such a remote place. We were alone with the seals and penguins for weeks now.

We can see the tip of the peninsula from here. It´s kind of a nostalgic moment to realize that we got out of the ice for good, we´re now heading to the north, in open-water for the rest of the trip. Soon, we can´t see any islands anymore, just water, endlessly, and some remaining icebergs. The ship moves a little more under the waves, we were not used to that anymore. In the ice, it was always very stable.

(Marie)