Antarctica - A68A, Elephant Island, and Whales

Monday, 24 February 2020

On our last day in Antarctic waters we sailed past the massive A68A iceberg, visited Point Wild on Elephant Island, and got up close with fin whales.

A68A broke off the Larsen C ice shelf in 2016, and has been floating through the region ever since. It’s orientation has shifted considerably. It’s 85 miles long and 27 miles wide – roughly the size of Delaware. The above-water portion is about 40 m (125 ft) high, but because shelf ice is less dense than glacier ice (about 25% is above water rather than 10%), the underwater portion is probably about 400 ft deep, for a total height of roughly 500 ft.

The white blob in the middle is the A68A iceberg on 25 February 2020, one day after we sailed past it.  The large island to the left is Joinville Island, just off the Antarctic Peninsula. Elephant Island is the largest island in the upper left. (NASA photo)

While most of A68A was a monolithic wall, in spots it had some indentations and irregularities.

The iceberg filled the starboard view for mile after mile.

We saw humpback whales between our ship and A68A.

Brash ice near A68A.

The end of A68A. We say good-bye and head for Elephant Island.

A panoramic view of Point Wild on Elephant Island. Point Wild is named for Frank Wild, Shacketon's second-in-command, who was in charge here while Shackleton and five others sailed to South Georgia Island in search of assistance.

Point Wild, where 22 men from Shackleton's expedition spent 137 days hunkered down awaiting rescue.

Chinstrap penguins on Point Wild.

Chinstrap penguins improbably high on the rocks at Point Wild.

After leaving Elephant Island, we encountered a group of fin whales. These are huge whales - only the blue whale is larger.

A closer look at the fin whales.

The fin whales got quite close to our ship.

An albatross coming in for a landing on the ocean.