This morning we found ice! All of the ice! As we sailed through the Bellingshausen Sea close to Alexander Island, our ship slowly made its way through the pack ice. We were incredibly lucky to find three different seal species: the Weddell seal, the crabeater seal, and the leopard seal. We also observed snow petrels, Antarctic terns, and…would you believe it? An actual emperor penguin!
This afternoon, we did a Zodiac tour along the edges of the major ice floes, where we were met with massive tabular icebergs. These huge icebergs had many gigantic ice caves inside, within which crashed the ocean waves. We got a close-up view of a lazy Weddell seal sleeping on a piece of drifting ice and paying no attention whatsoever to us. We spotted small flocks of snow petrels flying overhead and the odd Wilson’s storm petrel darting daintily around our Zodiacs. Halfway through our Zodiac trips, we were met by welcoming Antarctic Vikings who offered us hot beverages to keep us warm as we explored more of the ice before returning to the comfort of National Geographic Endurance for the evening.
