Traveling to one of the most remote places on our globe was never going to be simple. We arrived only to find that traveling around Antarctica and on and off the ice shelf is equally as adventurous!
Antarctica is one of the most unknown and unfamiliar terrains on our globe. The weather can, at times, be extreme and challenging. There can be snowstorms, frigid temperatures and mountainous landscapes, sometimes all at once! Our expedition is headed to the Larsen C ice shelf, so we are traveling by ship. We are currently traveling at between 14 and 18 knots (16-20 miles per hour)! However, when we reach ice we will slow down and let the reinforced bow (front) of the ship break through the thick ice sheets that cover much of the Weddell Sea. It is summer here, so the ice is slowly melting and more penetrable, but that certainly doesn't mean it is easy to get around! If we want to get onto the ice, we have to be lifted in a basket on the end of a crane! This is more stable than it seems because the vessel has a crane operator who is very experienced. Who would have thought that there was a job to operate a crane on a vessel in Antarctica?
