McMur­do Sound – 28th Febru­ary, 2020

Fri
28 Feb
2020

We have rea­ched the core area of our voya­ge, McMur­do Sound, the heart of the Ross Sea.

But, alas, the timing appears to be bad. A strong low pres­su­re moves over the Ross Sea area and the coas­tal zone of low winds in McMur­do Sound that the fore­cast had pro­mi­sed tur­ned out to be non-exis­tent. No chan­ce to get ashore as the winds are raging from 25 knots upwards to more than 50 knots. We pass Cape Royds and Cape Evans, Hut Point and McMur­do Base and even Scott Base – the sea is com­ple­te­ly open as far as that! Unbe­lie­va­ble; that does cer­tain­ly not hap­pen every year. But it is alre­a­dy start­ing to free­ze over again. The tem­pe­ra­tu­re is around -12 degrees and grey stripes of grease ice are all over the waves.

mcmur­do soand (gal­lery):

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Cape Evans

Fresh ice crys­tals forming in stor­my waters.

Scott's Dis­co­very-hut at Hut Point near McMur­do Base.

True wind speed (TWS) in the upper right cor­ner.