At Sea to Antarctica, 11/21/2024, National Geographic Explorer
Aboard the
National Geographic Explorer
Antarctica
With a gentle following sea and our bow pointed south, we woke to the ocean pushing us towards Antarctica. Sunny, blue skies invited us to the outer decks where seabirds entertained us for hours. Five species of albatross glided by on long stiff wings, often coming impressively close and offering wonderful photographic opportunities. Many humpback and fin whales cruised by as we crossed the polar front and entered the Southern Ocean.
The Drake Passage journey was a delightful one, and we look forward to our arrival in Antarctica tomorrow.
Born in the mountains of east Tennessee, it was easy for Steve to fall in love with the wonderful natural environment around him. What started as a childhood passion to scan the creeks and ponds for all they would reveal evolved into a studied desire...
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Our day started early with a wakeup call from Expedition Leader Michael Jackson to remind us to watch as the ship entered Neptune’s Bellows, the narrow entrance into the center of Deception Island. The day was a little overcast and there was a light breeze, which added to the atmosphere as we could see the beaches of Whaler’s Bay steaming all around. Quickly after breakfast, the Zodiacs started taking us to shore. We had the option of a short, medium, or long walk around the main sites. The long hikers took off for a quest on Roland’s Hill whilst the medium set for Neptune’s Window. We were excited to see three different types of seals on our walk: elephant seal, Weddell seal, and a very large leopard seal! We then returned to the ship for a briefing and lunch while the ship repositioned to Half Moon Island. Then it was time to load up the Zodiacs again. A quick run to the shore and we arrived at the beach to take a lovely, gentle hike across the snow-covered island to a chinstrap penguin colony and also to a group of Weddell seals snoozing on the snow. All too soon it was time to head back to the ship in time for the captain’s farewell and our last dinner together. What an amazing day!!
Charlotte Bay was our first landing on mainland Antarctica, if you count fast ice connected to the mainland as a landing. Fast ice is sea ice that has frozen and is connected to land. Although it would be possible to journey onto the continent from this location, we simply disembarked from the ship and walked about on the ice for the morning. We repositioned a few miles away in the afternoon to Portal Point, where we went ashore for hikes in the snow on a beautiful sunny day amongst towering mountains, massive glaciers, and innumerable icebergs. A few gentoo glaciers shared the bay with us, as we made our way through this Antarctic wonderland.
Today we had a true Antarctic expedition. We started our day at Danco Island where we had the chance to hike to great heights and take in the scenery all around us. Gentoo penguins were in constant motion up and down the penguin highways, making their way to the sea. We then repositioned to Chiriguano Bay where we offered Zodiac cruises and kayaking inside of this super scenic bay.
