Viking Cruises

18 | Viking Explorer Society News Trevor Cochrane and his crew set off on a Viking voyage to Antarctica, filming the expedition for Explore TV, airing every Saturday in February at 12.30pm AEDT on Channel 9. Here, he shares his top five moments of the experience. BEHIND THE LENS SEEING ANTARCTICA FOR THE FIRST TIME Before you reach Antarctica you start seeing ice in the water, then icebergs begin floating past the ship as it heads to the continent. That may well have been the most fascinating part of the whole experience. Seeing the coastline for the first time was amazing—our first sighting was of mountainous terrain surrounded by snow and ice. What made it extra impressive was the sky surrounding it, brilliant blue with remarkable cloud formations that made it difficult to tell top from bottom. THE SOUNDS OF THE ICEBERGS Even kayaking the ocean on a still day has noise, like that of the icebergs. When you're near an iceberg, it makes noise—as it rolls and moves you hear cracking and creaking. Then there's the distinct sound when air trapped inside of the iceberg pops out, releases into the atmosphere thousands—even tens of thousands of years—after it was locked away within the ice. I love animals, being so close to them was a privilege, but the icebergs were just amazing. They are alive and they communicate in their own way as they evolve within the environment. SURPRISE SIGHTINGS OF FEEDING WHALES One day we rode the Special Operations Boat to a point where we could see several groups of whales. The next thing we knew bubbles were rising around the boat in a circular formation, which all seemed fascinating and innocuous. But it was our highly experienced Viking expedition leader who realized what was happening and gently reversed the boat 10 metres or so away and told our Director of Photography, Lawrence Sayers, to change his camera to a wide lens. It turns out we were in the middle of a feeding pod of humpback whales. There were twelve 40-tonne whales swimming deep underneath us, blowing bubbles and pushing the krill to the surface before they would burst up with their mouths agape to feed, only a few metres away from our boat. Clockwise, from top left: Trent filming in Ushuaia, Trent and crew in the Viking submarine, Trent and crew on a zodiac exploring Antartica. "Before you reach Antarctica you start seeing ice in the water, then icebergs floating past the ship as it voyages to the continent. at may well have been the most fascinating part of the whole experience."

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