The ship rammed through the ice and came to rest next to this huge iceberg (for perspective, note the 2 penguins at the base of the berg) . Except for a few adjustments to keep from getting frozen in, this is where we stayed for nearly 5 days. Because of the very thick ice and cold temperatures, the emperor rookery was 25 miles away from the edge of the sea ice. Normally at this time of year, the ice has broken up, making it a relatively short 5-8 mile walk for the emperors back and forth from their rookery to the sea. This was a very difficult year for them.

Gallery pages: < 1 2 3 4 5 6 > >>

< 36 of 168 >

sharon osberg (SharonO) > A snow petrel flying over pancake ice.

sharon osberg (SharonO) > It was a near white-out, but this was our first iceberg sighting.

sharon osberg (SharonO) > Every little yellow dot is an iceberg!

sharon osberg (SharonO) > The bar. This place got quite popular as the weather forced us to stay on the ship.

sharon osberg (SharonO) > An emperor getting ready to enter the sea. I made this same journey to Snow Hill Island last year, but conditions were very different this time around. It was stunningly cold, with temperatures reaching minus 52 degrees. Also, the ice was more extensive and thicker than it had been since records were first kept. This extreme cold phenomenon must be some perverse result of global warming.

sharon osberg (SharonO) > Even though we finally reached the edge of the ice, our helicopters couldn't fly because of the white-out, so we made the best of it onbaord. That's me.

sharon osberg (SharonO) > The ship rammed through the ice and came to rest next to this huge iceberg (for perspective, note the 2 penguins at the base of the berg) . Except for a few adjustments to keep from getting frozen in, this is where we stayed for nearly 5 days.

Because of the very thick ice and cold temperatures, the emperor rookery was 25 miles away from the edge of the sea ice. Normally at this time of year, the ice has broken up, making it a relatively short 5-8 mile walk for the emperors back and forth from their rookery to the sea. This was a very difficult year for them.

The ship rammed through the ice and came to rest next to this huge iceberg (for perspective, note the 2 penguins at the base of the berg) . Except for a few adjustments to keep from getting frozen in, this is where we stayed for nearly 5 days.

Because of the very thick ice and cold temperatures, the emperor rookery was 25 miles away from the edge of the sea ice. Normally at this time of year, the ice has broken up, making it a relatively short 5-8 mile walk for the emperors back and forth from their rookery to the sea. This was a very difficult year for them.