South Shetlands & The Antarctic Peninsula 22 Feb 2020 - 14

Day 6- The White Continent
27 February 2020 – Paradise Bay and Neko Harbour
19
Waking up knowing that today is the day that we
would land on the Antarctic mainland, we checked
outside of our windows with baited breath to check
if the weather would hold. The luck we have had so
far held strong, and the surface of the water was
mirror calm apart from the ripples left from the ship.
@ShayneMcguire
We sailed into Paradise Harbour and away onto the
zodiacs with the standard full split of half the group
on land and the other half zodiac cruising. This was
with the exception of the kayakers who were
enjoying their forth outing of the voyage.
On the zodiacs, we travelled around the rocky
cliffs covered in beautiful lichens and algae to a
Blue-eyed shag colony with many chicks just
starting to leave their nests and settling on ice
bergs all around. We proceeded into Skontorp
Cove where we had views of the incredible glacier
fronts and witnessed first-hand the power of the
polar icecap through various calving events.
The afternoon brought us another Humpback
whale on our way to Neko Harbour. We took a
narrow channel sailing past the colourfully painted
Chilean base Gonzalez Videla, on our way towards
our afternoon location. At this point, we no longer
believe the expedition team and their dire
warnings that Antarctic weather can be bad as we
can see for miles across this perfect bay. Landing
on a gravel beach we are spoilt with a larger
colony of gentoos either rearing their fluffy chicks
or else trying to conserve energy as they moult
away their last years feathers. Another viewpoint
and some relaxing peace and quiet.
@AmandaDalsgaard
@ShayneMcguire
At the landing site, a set of stairs lead us up and
through the Argentinian ‘Brown Station’, where a
small colony of Gentoo penguins resided and the
expedition team organised a route up to a stunning
viewpoint. Everywhere we looked there were
glaciers, ice and mountains, perfectly reflected in the
mirror that the sea has become. Meanwhile, the
staff told stories of the peculiar situation of the
bases doctor having burned it down after a long year
away from his love.
On the water as well as the normal icebergs the
harbour seems to be filled with tiny wilsons storm
petrels dancing on the surface of the water picking
up tiny krill as they go in a pure masterclass in
precision. To top it off a mother and calf
humpback whale.
Once everyone was back on-board, the outdoor
activities were not quite finished yet Polar plunge
began, and 78 of us having apparently lost our
minds in the sun, deciding to jump from our warm
ship into the icy water.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14