64°59.409'S, 063°49.733'W, Lemaire Channel
65°06.000'S, 064°04.000'W, Pleneau Bay
65°10.000'S, 064°10.000'W, Petermann Island
This morning started early as we bundled up to go on deck while we sailed through Lemaire Channel. The channel is 11 km long and just 1600 meters wide. When you first enter it does not appear to go through all the way. It is a very photogenic place and is nicknamed 'Kodak Gap'. It was certainly worth many pictures as the sun was coming up and lighting the mountains and glaciers. The moon was still visible which added to the composition. Wildlife of leopard seal, crab eater seals, minke whales also joined the pictures. It will be hard to select the best pictures.
Our first stop of the day was Pleneau Bay at the south end of the Lemaire Channel. It is sometimes referred to as an iceberg graveyard. The area is shallow so icebergs that drift into the area go aground in the the shallows. The icebergs range in size from small cars to large homes and larger. We saw dense black ice as well as blue ice in the icebergs. Some were platforms for sleeping crab eater seals or penguins. We rode in zodiacs for almost two hours riding through these fantastic forms of ice. A highlight was when Shane, the expedition leader arrived in a zodiac and served us hot chocolate with Peppermint Schnapps. What a treat!
In the afternoon we went to Petermann Island to see Gentoo and Adelie's penguins. We watched juvenile penguins chasing their parents demanding to be fed. Adults will only feed their own offspring but sometimes the young will try to get food from any adult. We watched two juveniles chasing an adult down a snow covered hill and suddenly it was a ski run with the penguins skiing down on their bellies.
Early this evening there was the Polar Plunge. This is where any passenger had the opportunity to jump off a zodiac into the water, into 3 degree Celsius water, cold, cold water. 38 craze people did this. We chose not to participate in this activity as we valued our hearts and circulatory systems, but we did watch. I never saw so many people be able to climb out of the water so fast.
Brrrrrr
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