I’m amazed that it’s been nearly 2 weeks since I wrote my last blog. I am sure, when you see how much we have been doing; you will understand and not be too cross with me for leaving it so long. We have hopefully kept you up to date with the tracking map and weather, and our amazing story about our Emperor penguin find. I still can’t quite believe that I actually got to see such a great bird up close on the bergs next to the ship.
Emperor penguins
After leaving Rothera, we headed south to waters that Endurance has not visited for 15 years. It’s about as challenging as the Antarctic gets and we always knew that it was going to very difficult to get everything done. As we headed south, we saw the most spectacular icebergs that we have seen so far in the deployment. One was a huge vertical tower that reminded me of Liverpool Cathedral. The bergs in the south of the Peninsula are still very young and have more harsh, linear edges than the smoother weathered ones we get to see further north
Cathedral iceberg
As you would expect with a ship that is so committed to the environment, when we spotted a couple of bits of floating rubbish in an otherwise spotless ocean, we couldn’t just leave them there. I put our small inflatable boats in the water and came back with a very rusty oil drum, and a huge fishing float that was almost as big as AB “Delta” Goodram who managed to fish it out of the water! I would encourage you all not to walk by litter if you see any lying around as it can be a danger to wildlife, and makes the place look messy!
Retrieving the large fishing float with AB "Delta" Goodrum and AB Daz Muldowny
Retrieving the rusty drum with Leading Divers Alex Newnes and Jason "Spider" Webb
What followed next was a frustrating week. I wanted to get scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to various points at the bottom of the western edge of the Peninsula. It started well with a really good day on Eklund Island where our soil and glacier experts got lots of really good samples and came back beaming with their finds. I have never seen a grown man get so happy about a bag full of rock, but if you are an Antarctic geologist, it doesn’t get much better!
However, what then followed was probably the most difficult few days I have had since I became Captain of Endurance. It seemed that despite all our best-made plans, everything was against us. Having waited and waited for a gap in the weather to fly both helicopters a long way over ice to get to Sims Island, when the team arrived; it was covered in penguins, as so of course they couldn’t land. Plan B involved a long sail around Smyley Island (there weren’t many smiles on board at this point I can tell you) to get to the island by sea boat rather than helicopter which would not upset the penguins. But again, we were scuppered by the ice and weather, both of which were closing in around us and sailing a ship with your loved ones on board into a potentially dangerous situation is not something that Capt Bob would ever do. So, at 3am after a bleary-eyed meeting on the bridge with my team, we abandoned Sims Island and turned around. Everyone completely understood why we could not get the scientists to where they needed to be, but I still hated having to let them down. Of course, it was the right decision, but my sailors have a “can do” attitude, which is to their credit, and everyone was a bit fed up that we had been prevented from giving our friends from BAS what they needed. Oh well, maybe next year?
HMS Endurance in Antarctica
We then headed north again and spent a couple of days surveying Lazarev Bay, a location that is currently just a blank on the chart. No-one had ever surveyed there before and it’s been a real honour and a challenge, to produce the first survey there. Whilst making slow but careful progress in the entrance of the bay, we got our scientists ashore using the helicopters, and they made up for their previous disappointment but coming back with even more rock, moss and soil. We also got our team from BBC Radio 4 in with them and they have gathered some brilliant interviews about the science BAS are doing.
Collecting valuable samples
Next stop Rothera and we had two very important events to look forward to, the annual winter Olympics, and the visit of Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, Commander in Chief (CinC) Fleet.
Each year, all the departments on board put together a team of highly trained Olympians to see if we can beat BAS on their own turf. The 2-mile walk up the glacier was almost enough for some, and I felt as Captain, I shouldn’t peak too early, so I went up by skidoo. I was there in my official capacity to start all the races, confirm the times, shout encouragement, and most important of all, judge the ice sculpture competition. It was a hugely fun afternoon for everyone. There are lots of photos, but I have put a few of my favourites in the blog.
The lonely figure of Capt Bob at the finishing line
Lt Shani Dyer having just made it down the mountain on her snowboard
LPT Johnny Platt showing that fashion does exist in Antarctica
A big thank you has to go to Leading Physical Training Instructor Johnny Platt, who organised the event, and kept it all running smoothly, our Royal Marines who set up the courses and generally kept everyone safe, and James Wake from BAS who got everyone up the glacier and back in one piece.
The Ice sculpture was won by our resident celebrity, Dr Martha Holmes, who is on board making the next BBC Natural History series, Life. Having won Emmys and Baftas for her previous work, including Blue Planet and Life in the Freezer, the ice sculpture crown was indeed a prize worth competing for. Her beautiful bottlenose dolphin was amazing and she won hands down.
Martha and her ice dolphin
Afterwards, we had an ice BBQ on the quarterdeck and then the Rothera band, “Nunataks” played their first gig outside Rothera. I am not sure if a ship in the harbour really counts as going on tour, but they seemed to think it did!
In the morning, the atmosphere changed once we heard that Admiral Stanhope’s plane had left the Falklands, and our last minute preparations were completed for his arrival. For those who are not sure what CinC Fleet stands for, I will explain. At your school, you have a headmaster who is in charge of all the teachers and children. That is a bit like me on the ship. The Admiral is like a super headmaster who is in charge of all the headmasters in every school in the country! The fact that he has come all the way to Antarctica to see for himself what we do and how we work with the scientists, shows that he really appreciates how hard we work.
In order to show Admiral Stanhope as much as possible in the short time he was here, we put together a busy, but interesting programme for him. First stop was Blaiklock Island in one of the ships helicopters. As with all trips, he had to wear one of the orange survival suits, as even Admirals have to obey the safety rules. Once on the island, two senior scientists from BAS gave the Admiral a tour about the work they do, and he also got to meet some of the locals who had never met an Admiral before!
CinC studying a sample of Antarctic larvae found on Blaiklock lsland
CinC meeting some of the locals, a group of Adelie penguins
On Blaiklock Island, there is a small abandoned hut. It still contains some old food and fuel in case anyone ever is stranded there, and has a visitor’s book for anyone who stumbles across it to write in. Not wanting to miss the chance to leave his own message, the Admiral left the message below.
Message from CinC in Visitors book
Did you know that within the British Royal Navy there is a hierarchy of entitlement according to rank, which allows some officer ranks to write with particular ink colours? I use red ink for example, and Admirals are entitled to use green ink.
Admiral Stanhope then had a tour of Rothera, and was shown what our survey team have been doing whilst we have been down south. The highlight of the tour was meeting yet more of the locals, this time a beautiful Antarctic starfish and a not so nice giant sea spider that lives on the bottom of the Aquarium.
Antarctic starfish
Antarctic sea spider in the aquarium at Rothera
However, it was not all fun for the Admiral, as we also had some serious meetings about how Endurance can be used in the future and he also got to meet the sailors on board to get an understanding for how they feel about life at sea. Overall, my ships company made an excellent impression on Admiral Stanhope and he has sent us a wonderful letter saying how much more he has learnt about Endurance and Antarctica, and how much he enjoyed his visit.
As if there had not been enough excitement, with the Olympics and the Admiral’s visit, there was one final surprise to come. Just as we were getting ready to sail, our eagle eyes Navigator, Lt Shani Dyer noticed some fins in the distance coming our way. She always lets everyone on board know about any spotted wildlife so we can get our cameras ready. Imagine our excitement when the fins turned out to be a family of Killer Whales who had come to say hello! They swam right up to the ship and along the side, before swimming off around the coast. We have never seen a pod of Killer Whales that close before and it was wonderful to see so many together including some babies.
Whale family with adult male and female and two babies
Killer whales heading round the bay
As you can see, we have been very busy and I think this is my longest blog yet! I have a few people to say hello to before I go. Firstly, St Clare’s School in Fulwood, and St Augustine’s School in Preston. The children there are reading my blogs and tracking our progress—and learning a lot about Antarctica. They have also been asking one of our BBC friends on board lots of questions that we will put on the website for everyone to read. I also would like to mention our long-standing friends at St Ippolyts Primary School and everyone at Hollycombe Primary School. I hope that you are keeping up with us as we travel round the Antarctic coastline. I also hope you enjoy our special National Science Week lesson plans that we have produced with round-the-world-yachtswomen Dame Ellen MacArthur and The University of Portsmouth.
Right, off to see what the Operations Officer, Lt Cdr Adam Northover, is planning to do with my ship. I need to keep a close eye on him as he comes up with all sorts of crazy ideas!
Tight lines
Capt Bob