Our Tiny Ship, Seabourn Quest Dwarfed By Towering Rocks: Antarctica Explored, A Photo A Day

Seabourn Quest Una's Peaks
In Perspective: Dwarfing Seabourn Quest, Una Peaks, formerly known as Cape Renard Towers, are basalt towers topped by a cap of ice. The peaks stand as sentinels to the northern entrance of the Lemaire Channel. The highest summit of the two peaks rises to more than 2,400 feet. © 2014 Avid Travel Media Inc.

Antarctica is massive on a scale that is hard to comprehend. The towering rock in this photo illustrates how the continent’s natural features can humble and dwarf even something as large as a cruise ship carrying 450 guests and nearly as many crew.

There are actually two towers, and they are known colloquially (cover your children’s ears) as “Una’s Tits,” in honor of Una Spivey, a secretary in the governor’s office in the Falkland Islands.  She helped administer what is known today as the British Antarctic Survey. Apparently Una made quite an impression on the honorable young men in the service of the British government.

On the day that we were dawdling around Una’s Tits, wisps of clouds were caressing the basalt columns, making for a dramatic effect. It’s remarkable to think that the highest peak is nearly half-a-mile high. Together, the two towers guard the northern entrance to the Lemaire Channel, like monuments paying homage to the great White Continent.

 

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