April to August in Pictures – Sea Ice and Icebergs
Before we could venture onto the sea ice during our overwintering, it had to first be certified as safe. This decision is made by experts who assess the sea-ice development on the basis of satellite data. Once we’re cleared to go on the ice, we have to make a sea-ice ramp – i.e., a transition point between the ice shelf and sea ice. At this time of year, there’s often a naturally formed ramp, created by easterly windstorms. During the inspection, we used climbing gear to check the ramp for any crevasses. Once the inspection was done, we had a green light to use the sea-ice ramp, which meant nothing stood in the way of us exploring the sea ice.
Aside from the penguins, one of our main attractions on the sea ice are the “Rumsgebirge” (roughly translates to “surprise mountains”). They were created in September 2021 and stem from iceberg D30, which was driven into Atka Bay by the massive iceberg D28. In turn, D28 originated in the Amery Ice Shelf and weighed nearly 300 billion metric tons in 2019, when it calved from the shelf. When D28 drove D30 into the bay, our “Rumsgebirge” broke off. They stayed with us all last summer. Good news for us! As miracles of nature go, they’re first-rate.
Image Gallery
The edge of the Ekström Ice Shelf also has a lot to offer. In some places, the bare ice shelf can be seen. It’s hard to believe that, from where we’re standing in the picture below, the shelf extends nearly 150 – 200 metres down, while we’re standing on sea ice that is “only” two metres thick.
