Day 7, 8, 9 – Tuesday 16th, Wednesday 17th, and Thursday 18th January 2024
At Sea
First sighting of an iceberg of the expedition in the Southern Ocean - Photo Credit Hokonui Rūnanga.The rōpu spent the next 3 days travelling southward towards to Ross Sea. The time was filled with lectures from the knowledgeable Heritage staff with many being specialists in their field, including Adelie penguins, the history and politics of Antarctica, current protections, and early explorers. Our very own Regina Eisert and Colin Aitchison presented on the drone work the rōpu are doing, and the equipment used, which also coincided with meeting our regulatory requirements. The passion for conservation and years of experience throughout the crew is valuable not only to the expedition but the reputation of Heritage Expeditions. It was especially significant having the founder of Heritage Expeditions Rodney Russ on board to share his knowledge and history of Heritage, along with his many years dedicated to conservation mahi.
The time was also spent, weaving through many photos and videos the team had taken, along with written reports and getting permitting processes together. This also gave the Ngāi Tahu rōpu the opportunity to refine the Āpiti Hono Tātai Hono assessments and to research some of the history and connections by Ngāi Tahu and the Antarctic region.
On Wednesday, there was the first siting of an iceberg which had the boat very excited. It was accompanied by snow petrels flying around the boat, the icebergs came in thick and fast after that.
On Thursday the expedition crossed the 66 degrees latitude which marked the crossing of the Arctic Circle. A place where very few people in the world have crossed and in the footsteps of those first explorers. It was celebrated by the “mark of the penguin” stamp to the forehead, a celebratory drink, and for those brave enough, a polar plunge into the swimming pool which was pumped straight from the ocean. The rōpu also took this opportunity to test the splash drone in the pool in anticipation for when we reached Antarctica.
Day 10 – Friday 19th January 2024
Cape Adare
Karlee Nicholas on penguin patrol duties. Making sure the inquisitive Adelie penguins don’t get too close to the drone - Photo Credit Hokonui Rūnanga.Friday came with spectacular weather and first views of the mainland which was Antarctica, the boat slowed to be able to go through the large pack of ice shelves and navigate through the hundreds of icebergs of varying sizes. It still took a large part of the day, to approach Cape Adare where we anticipated landing. The approach was filled with wildlife and iceberg photos, with smooth sailing and blue sky. The outside temperature had dropped though, to where the polar expedition jackets were a necessity. The rōpu took this opportunity to map the Cape Adare Adelie penguin colony after collaboration with Prof Steve Emslie from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington who is a world-famous US penguin expert on the ship. The rōpu managed to get all the photography needed and was a great success. Especially since this can often be the windiest place on the planet and the team managed to get a drone in the air for a couple of hours. During operations, the rōpu were surrounded by Adelie penguins who were very inquisitive of what was going on but were very weary of passing leopard seals patrolling the coastline.
That evening while the guests were taking a leisurely zodiac cruise around the cape, the rōpu took the opportunity to test the ROV. It started off well with some great underwater footage and team work. However, a malfunction in the ROV meant that buoyancy issues arose. This is the benefit of testing before deployment of operations.
Landing at Cape Adare was significantly important to the Ngāi Tahu rōpu, especially Karlee Nicholas whose tīpuna William Timaru Joss had also set foot on Cape Adare back in 1895 on board the ship Antarctica with Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink and New Zealander Alexander Francis Henry von Tunzelmann who claims to be the first ever to step foot on the great continent. The Ngāi Tahu rōpu took this opportunity to undertake a cultural assessment which ended up being one of the lengthiest assessments showing how significant this site was to the rōpu.
Day 11 – Saturday 20th January 2024
At sea – heading south
In true expedition mode now and we are at the mercy of the conditions. Although blue sky and calm seas greeted us through the day, the pack ice was a different story and this determined where the journey took us. First plans were to go from Cape Adare to Possession Island, but severe pack ice inhibited the way, plan B was then to head further south towards Colman Island, but upon approach, the same result with thick ice, instead a zodiac cruise along the pack ice was decided to get the guests out and about. The rōpu took this opportunity to test out launching from the ship by sending out a drone on a reconnaissance in the hope of discovering wildlife. Some Adelie penguins on the ice were sited and the test flight run was a success. The entire day journey was still filled with wildlife along the way including Adelie and Emperor penguins, Weddell and Crabeater seals, and a distance siting of orca.
Day 12 – Sunday 21st January 2024
At sea – Inexpressible Island
Pack Ice from the day before meant nearly another full days steam south towards Terra Nova in the hope of getting to an area where we could go ashore. Thankfully by the evening, the weather had settled enough to be able to approach Inexpressible Island for a landing. Cloud was low, and there were intermittent snow flurries, so putting up a drone was not an option. There was also little presence of marine mammals, and the Adelie penguin colonies were in the ASPA (Antarctic Specially Protected Area) so no going into this area for survey work. Therefore, Karlee Nicholas and Riki Parata acted as tourists for the evening and landed on Inexpressible for a walk to the historic site of the ice cave where Victor Campbell’s Northern Party wintered and has now been designated a Historic Site or Monument. This was followed by a walk up to the top of Harrowfield Hill named after the famous New Zealand and Antarctic Archaeologist Dr David Harrowfield. From the top, you can see right up the Priestley Glacier, Vegetation Island, and the Nansen ice sheet. The final zodiac got back from Inexpressible Island at 1am, but with no darkness, it felt like a normal afternoon out walking in the snow.
Day 13 – Monday 22nd January 2024
International huts and Drygalski Ice Tongue
Minke whale sighted at the Drygalski Ice Tongue Antarctica - Photo credit Dr Regina EisertAfter a night of steaming, we awoke to be settled in at Terra Nova Bay, the weather however was not so settled. Snow flurries and high winds meant that we sat for the morning looking directly at the German Antarctic Base called Gondwana and the Korean Antarctic Base called Jang Boga hoping for the weather to settle and get ashore. Unfortunately, after a few hours, the weather got the upper hand and we had to move on without going ashore, with the hope of maybe trying again on the return north.
On the way south while still in Terra Nova Bay and just around the corner of the Italian Antarctic Base called Mario Zuchelli, was an ice shelf that the boat nosed up to. This saw the opportunity to send up the drone to survey a number of Weddell seals that had occupied the ice. Colin Aitchison deployed the drone with hi-spec imagery but also thermal imaging which highlights the seals on the ice and easier to tell from rocks using thermal. This soon became a “guess the number of seals” competition between the guests which was announced to be 51 in total resulting in a prize on board. This also highlighted the use of technology that can be used for colony counts and scenario operations for similar monitoring around inaccessible areas.
From here we passed the Italian Research base as they were closing down for the summer, so a landing to visit the base was denied. The decision was made to progress further south the Drygalski ice shelf which is a massive glacier estimated to be 90km long and 20km wide protruding out to sea, and a very impressive spectacle in its own right. The weather and swell were considerably calmer here and a zodiac cruise was announced by the boat. The Ngāi Tahu rōpu took this opportunity to cruise along the ice tongue in case any marine mammals were present. The gamble paid off as both the guests and researchers were treated to a minke whale feeding, the rōpu immediately deployed a drone, and some fantastic imagery was taken for research. The whole boat was a buzz afterwards and the footage from the drone was shared with the guests and crew.
Day 14 – Tuesday 23rd January 2024
The Heritage Adventurer and Erebus maunga in the background at Cape Royds Antarctica - Photo Credit C. Aitchison, Skyworks UASTuesday morning we awoke to blue sky, calm seas, and an impressive landscape view of Ross Island, home of Mt Erebus, which would be the backdrop of our activities for the next few days. We found ourselves being very fortunate as the maunga rarely presents itself with such pristine conditions. We were reminded of the wai that was gifted by Ngāi Tahu and transported from the puna of Aoraki to Erebus on the 25th anniversary of the flight 901 disaster in 2004.
The calm weather meant an exploratory mission by the rōpu by zodiac was planned. It was not long until the rōpu encountered another minke whale and a drone was deployed from the zodiac, we were lucky enough to have Yuri Martynova as our driver who has had experience doing similar work for BBC and National Geographic. While the drone was in the air, we were also greeted by a pod of Antarctic Type B orca which was a rarity to see according to Dr Regina Eisert. The rōpu managed to get some excellent footage of the pod “spy-hopping” and feeding and was a definite highlight of the research thus far, contributing to the ongoing research involving Dr Eisert and the Murihiku rōpu. The pod soon dove and moved on and the rōpu went ashore to partake in some sightseeing.
The first landing was at Cape Royds to see Shackleton’s hut, used by Ernest Shackleton and his men aboard the legendary voyage of the Nimrod and the expedition to the South Pole. Surrounded by Adelie penguins and Weddell seals the hut and its preservation remains a tribute by the Antarctic Heritage Trust to the heroic men of the Nimrod. Due to the weather being exceptional, it was decided by the operations manager Nathan Russ to fit in another landing to Scott’s Hut situated further south at Cape Evans, the rōpu and guests definitely felt a change of wairua at the hut knowing that may of the expedition party never returned and the remains of kurī carcasses and the harshness of the elements was visible through the remaining relics. A visit to Scott’s hut was one of the most stark yet powerful visits, with an overwhelming respect for the explorers, adventurers, and scientists, of that time. After the hut visit, the rōpu decided to go out for another search on the zodiacs and encountered yet another minke whale. Some great overhead footage was grabbed before the elements picked up and ended the research session. This was a big day with many of the team heading to bed around 3am, with some of the crew not finishing up until 5am. A well needed sleep in was had by all the following day.
