This morning, we were greeted by a number of humpback whales as we arrived at the entrance of Cierva Cove. Conditions were calm with heavily overcast skies, and a beautiful vista of stunning blue icebergs surrounded us. During our Zodiac cruise around the cove, an inquisitive subadult humpback whale passed right by our Zodiac, showing its flukes just meters away from us. We spotted leopard seals resting on ice floes, and we visited chinstrap and gentoo penguin colonies along the shoreline.
This afternoon, we had planned to offer another Zodiac cruise to our guests, this time at the incredibly scenic Spert Island. Unfortunately, ice and weather conditions didn’t allow us to operate there. Expedition Leader Jamie quickly formulated a backup plan of a Zodiac cruise with a landing at Mikkelsen Harbour. It was a great opportunity for guests to get up-close and personal with another gentoo penguin colony while hearing more about the history of whaling here in the Palmer Archipelago.
