Cruising Through an Iceberg Graveyard

Graveyards can be fascinating places, giving off a spooky vibe that can have you tantalisingly on edge. But I have to say I never thought I’d have that same experience sitting in a zodiac with a half dozen other red-parka clad tourists motoring through a collection of icebergs.

Located at the southern end of the Lemaire Channel, Pleneau Bay is home to what’s colloquially called an iceberg graveyard. It’s a bay where icebergs come to die, trapped in the bay as they drift slowly south, changing shape and size as they travel.

Apart from the hum of the motor and the occasional awe-struck exclamation from one of the passengers, there’s an eerie quiet as we edge around the giant chunks of ice. All eyes are glued to the scenery (except for one member of the group who spends more time looking at herself as she lies on her back taking selfies!) as we turn one corner and then the next. This could equally be called an Iceberg Gallery with its eye boggling sculptures and bizarrely shaped carvings.

Here is a spiky lion fish, there a pyramid, around the corner a dragon’s tail and up-ahead a giant white brain. A leopard seal stretches and yawns on a floating biscuit of ice while two penguins huddle on an impossibly sheer slope.

Everything is blinding white and eye-watering blue: glassy aqua water that’s so clear and crisp you can see through it to the base of the icebergs, ice so compacted and opaque it’s luminous. Gliding through this pristine environment I’m filled with a sense of awe and gratitude for being here, for seeing all this in 3D rather than on a screen, and for the absolute brilliance of mother nature.

We’ve been blessed with sunshine today which allows us to see the bay at its finest and our luck continues as we make our way up the Lemaire Channel and watch a yellow moon rise over ice-capped peaks. You can read more about that in my last blog post here.

And watch out for my next one all about whale soup (not one you eat)!