Antarctica - Day 4

We had an early morning wake up call at 6am as we were sailing through the Lemaire Channel at 6.30am, which is a very narrow passage with towering mountains and ice cliffs on either side of the channel looking on to Mount Scott which is 880m above sea level. 

It was very foggy and snowing, with low cloud, and the absolute stillness made it it a very unique and almost eerie experience. We took photos from the deck and then had breakfast on the way to Port Charcot. After breakfast we went ashore at Port Charcot where I climbed to the cairn at the top overlooking the surrounding bays with a 360m view - Gavin was busy kayaking in the bay. There was a bay full of icebergs which had been washed up there from the prevailing currents, known as the iceberg graveyard, and it was spectacular to see. There were many penguins and the area was full of pink snow algae, which gave unusual colouring to the scene. The landscape scenes were absolutely spectacular, like nothing I have ever seen before. The fog had lifted and there were clear views, and it was not very cold, it was about 6C.

Then it was back to the boat for a lecture on the history of the area and the human aspect of Antarctica, which was followed by lunch. After lunch when we went out on a zodiac cruise in Paradise Bay, and saw the Argentinian base of Brown Station. This bay was aptly named as it was stunning with mountains, glaciers and icebergs and all perfectly reflected in the still water. There was a large humpback whale playing around our zodiac, he was teasing us by swimming nearby but not doing many tail flips. He breached once which we all missed getting a photo of, but he was waving his large pectoral fin out the water - this is the largest ‘arm’ of any mammal, as while humpbacks are not the largest whales they have the largest pectoral fins.

We saw many leopard seals lazing on icebergs - unfortunately one had a huge gash in the side of his body, so huge and deep that it looked likely to have been caused by a propeller which is a worrying thought as this area does not have much boat activity other than from expeditions vessels. We got back for drinks and another lecture, and this was followed by supper which was a BBQ on the back of one of the decks. The BBQ supper was delicious but it was very cold sitting outside.

We had just started our image review with our camera group when there was an announcement over the speakers that a pod of orca whales had been spotted. We all rushed up on to the observation deck and watched these beautiful animals swimming alongside the boat. There were about 6 of them swimming on the surface of the water. It has been another busy and exciting day with incredible sightings. What I like about this boat is that we don’t seem to be following a standard route - we have only passed one other boat on the entire journey. Tonight for example, the captain deviated his route so we could see the pod of orcas. 

Tonight we are sailing back up north through the Gerlache Strait and heading towards Deception Island. As we reach open water there could possibly be more swells although this new boat has state of the art stabilisers so it should not be too choppy (fingers crossed). The first day when I experienced sea sickness was unfortunate as the weather was bad with such high winds, but we are not expecting such strong swells on this return voyage.

My main image is of Lemaire Channel as we passed through at 6.30am. Extras are 1. The iceberg graveyard at Port Charcot 2. Three little penguins ...hold my hand and we will all jump in together 3. Brown Station the Argentinian base 4. Glaciers in Paradise Bay 5. A leopard seal, the mean bad-ass seals who eat penguins