Something which is quickly done in the Arctic, but quite complicated in Antarctica: crossing the Polar Circle. In the Arctic I fly each year to well above the Circle: Longyearbyen is at 78ºN (the circle at 66º33’N). However, most of our Antarctic Peninsula trips do not go any further south as 65ºS. The last trip of the season, however, brought us well beyond the Circle. We crossed the imaginary line (where the Sun doesn’t set for at least one day a year) at Crystal Sound. This sound was filled with large ice floes which had hundreds of Crabeater Seal resting on it. During the actual crossing the weather wasn’t good, but as typical in Antarctica, that changed quickly and later we could enjoy our first views of Antarctica south of the Circle in good weather.
It’s strange, nothing should be different south of this invisible line, but somehow it feels very different.
