On Sunday, December 6th we anchored in
Cierva Cove on the Gerlache Strait. The back of the cove is a massive glacier face which regularly calves (drops large chunks of ice) into the bay.
The Expedition Team checked out the conditions first, then informed the Bridge that is was safe to take passengers out for Zodiac tours of the bay. This is not a site where visitors can go ashore. Instead the plan was for each group to get a 75 minute Zodiac tour of the bay as the driver gave us information on the environment we were viewing.
Again, we were organized in our color groups for the tours. Cleverly, each day they changed the order of the color groups so that every group goes out at a different assigned time each day. Fortunate for us, our Blue Group went out at 9:30, the second group out that day. By the time we finished our tour, however, the conditions deteriorated and the remaining groups had to be canceled. We were so sorry for our fellow passengers that could not get out to experience this icy wonderland in a Zodiac. Conditions were windy and rough by the time we headed back to the ship and getting from the Zodiac back on the ship was challenging. Our Expedition Team and ship's crew did a great job of getting us Blue Group passengers back on board safely.
The pictures below show that this bay is a spectacular environment for seeing the icebergs, bergy bits and brash ice. It was special to see it up close and personal from a Zodiac, then hang out in the safe, warm comfort of our luxury ship which offers plenty of viewing areas, too.
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| Huge iceberg |
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| Brash ice |
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| Iceberg with glacier in the background |
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| Bergy bits everywhere |
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| Zodiac gets us up close |
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| High cliffs of Cierva Cove |
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| Big Berg |
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Small iceberg close to our balcony
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Shortly after we returned to the ship, the Captain decided to pull up anchor and explore other areas to find a site for the next day.
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