Happy 50th Birthday, Honey! I Got You An Iceberg!

-the birthday boy turns the big 50!
-what do spa slippers and waterproof boots have in common?
-two mile long tabular iceberg

Boots were stored in small cages and were the last thing we did before boarding a zodiak. We used our spa slippers to shuffle between the storage and our suite.

In the morning we attended a mandatory IAATO (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators) standard of conduct in the Antarctic briefing which was immediately followed by a "Bio Security Check."  We were asked to bring all of the equipment that we would be taking to shore in order to have the Expedition Staff check it for any type of seeds, etc., that might introduce anything new or foreign into the Antarctic environment, including wildlife. The stipulation is that no person shall introduce foreign elements to the area during an excursion, during research, etc. The Expedition Staff had a routine that moved the line along quite efficiently. There was also a boot exchange if you needed a different sized boot.
Because of the distinct smell of penguin guano and the fact that the Captain and crew of the Quest were not at all interested in figuring out how to clean Penguin Poo (tm) out of the ship's carpeting, we were required to take our boots to a covered area on deck to secure our boots in a small cage. It was quite an efficient set-up if you ask me.
Just after our Zodiac safety briefing in the early evening Captain Larsen made an announcement that the ship's radar had picked up an unusually large tabular iceberg. His plan was to navigate our ship toward it (seems counter intuitive, but ok if you say so) in order for us to take a better look. You've never seen 400 people scramble so quickly to stand on the frigid deck to take our first look at "the ice!" Our transit through the Drake Passage was unusually smooth. Thank you, God. So this meant that we found ourselves with an extra day to futz around. Our generous Captain took us on a sightseeing excursion. Yay!
Also and I apologize if you already know this but the Drake Passage was named for Sir Francis Drake who after passing through the Strait of Magellan in 1578 was blown far south. What a hellish nightmare of a ride that must have been but lucky for all of us he discovered the opening between the Atlantic and Pacific ocean.
Okay, back to the story...At first glimpse all of us on deck stood with our mouths gaping open. Holy moly, it was a free floating tabular iceberg 2 miles long and a little over 100 ft. high. It was difficult to gage those dimensions until it was announced that we had time to slowly circumnavigate it so we could see the ice caves formed in its structure and large waves crashing against and inside those caves.
First let me put it out there that I don't have a photo that shows the scale of this massive chunk of ice but I will upload a few more in a feeble attempt to show you what a 2 mile piece of ice looks like. Pretty darn intimidating!

Our expedition team told us this sheet broke off the Larsen Ice Shelf. Although our Captain is named Larsen and the Ice Shelf is also named after another Captain Larsen there is no connection that we are aware of between the two men.

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In the evening we went to one of the smaller restaurants on the the ship, "Restaurant 2", in order to celebrate Michael's birthday with a special birthday dinner. He was given a nice bottle of Chilean wine and served a gigantic chocolate cake for his 50th! It was a magical day. :-)