After a day at sea, we had a sighting of land in the morning again. After breakfast, naturalist Eduardo Shaw shared his knowledge of brush-tailed penguin. Soon, we went ashore on Sims Island, a small and largely ice-free volcanic island lying south of Smyley Island. It was discovered by pilot Ashley Snow of the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–1941) on an aircraft flight on December 22, 1940. It was named for Lieutenant L.S. Sims, a U.S. Marine Corps surgeon on the expedition.
According to the 2012 satellite imagery, there is the population of 15,000 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins on this island. Many of the birds were sitting on their nests, protecting chicks. We also encountered a few Weddell seals at the landing site. It was quite a high swell at the site and thus our experienced Zodiac drivers used a stern landing technique.
After the morning landing, we continued sailing along the coast of Smyley Island, a 61-km-long island covered with massive glaciers. In the afternoon, naturalist Gabriela Roldan gave a presentation about female adventures and companions in Antarctica. Later in the afternoon, we sailed further south towards the Amundsen Sea. We had an amazing time on the bridge watching birds and icebergs. Snow petrels and Antarctic petrels followed us on the way.
At evening recap, everyone was excited to learn about tomorrow’s plans before we enjoyed a culinary adventure at dinner.
