Maya Johnson, AUIP’s Antarctica student blogger, writes from aboard the Akademik Ioffe:
On Christmas Eve it finally hit a couple of students that they weren’t going to be home with their families for the holidays. Especially for college students, holidays are a special time to be with your family and friends at home, but the ship staff did not disappoint as a temporary replacement.
Christmas Eve morning we had our typical (and very delicious) breakfast that usually consisted of some mixture of eggs, oatmeal, fruit, toast and jam, sausage, and pastries. To say the least, we were spoiled in the food department. After breakfast and putting on at least three layers of pants, shirts, jackets, and gloves, we meandered our way over to Curtiss Bay for a zodiac boat tour. The amazing professional photographer, who was organised by the ship to travel with us, offered to take out a boat specifically for those interested in photography to give tips and tricks on taking good pictures. This was an extremely popular tour and they ended up filling two boats solely for photography.
We then made our way over to Mikkelsen Bay for the afternoon where we got to see a lot more wildlife and a lot more action. As per usual, we were lucky to see a lot of penguins, but during this excursion we got to see more seals in one place than we ever had before! It was so amazing to see these enormous animals relaxing on the ice with the penguins, who were both unfazed by our presence. We were all very excited to see our first elephant seal, and even though it was a baby, it was still as large and menacing looking as the others. In addition to the elephant seals people also spotted crab eater seals and a few humpback whales circling the bay. Mikkelson harbor was a favorite because of its diverse wildlife, but also because it was an old whaling station with enormous whale skeletons scattered around the land.
Finally, to my favorite part of the whole day: THE DINNER! I will admit that I was not excited when I found out that we were eating dinner outside on the deck of the boat when we had just spent the previous 6 hours outside in the cold Antarctic air. But, I was proven completely wrong once again. The ship crew had completely transformed the deck by creating a make-shift buffet table and dining tables for us to eat at. They had a speaker outside playing music while we grabbed a cup (or three) of their hot apple cider and enjoyed a classic Antarctic view. For dinner there was corn on the cob, shrimp skewers, potatoes, cauliflower, pork and gravy. The shrimp was by far my favorite and everyone at my table had a least two skewers. I can understand why the staff makes this an annual event because it will definitely be one of my favorite nights/moments on this trip.
The next morning was Christmas and it was also polar plunge morning! If you’re not familiar with the polar plunge it basically means dunking your body into icy cold water and is usually done at beaches in the winter or places with inherently cold water-like Antarctica! We arrived at Deception Island early Christmas morning around 5:45 am. Deception island was unlike any other location we went to in Antarctica purely because of its unique characteristics. It was undoubtedly one of the most interesting locations because it was an active volcano with an old whaling station that was destroyed by a previous eruption. The main attraction at Deception Island was Neptune’s Window where the Antarctic Peninsula can be easily spotted in the distance.
As you can see in pictures this is definitely one of the most spectacular locations one can take a polar plunge. After a hike around the island and up to Neptune’s Window, it was time. For the first couple of seconds we all stood around reluctant to strip our layers off in the cold, but a countdown gave us no choice. Everyone took their layers off and ran into the one degree Celsius water. It wasn’t as cold as we thought it was going to be because our bodies were in shock! The hardest part was running into the water and trying to convince yourself to dunk your head under!
The rest of the morning some people napped after the early rise from the morning preparing for our last excursion to the Antarctic Chinese Base. To say the least, this was a Christmas none of us will forget despite being without our families. Having made a lot of new friends with both the staff and the other students on the trip, we were all happily together with our temporary family for the holidays this year.
