Shrouded in low, snowy clouds, the South Shetland Islands of yesterday were a tease for what would happen this morning. Many of us slept fitfully throughout the morning as the Gerlache Strait lined up to the morning’s windy roll call. Peering through the curtains of our port lights and windows was a wonderful golden glow, a reminder to the weary that you can sleep on the flight home. Now was the time to rise. With the strong winds came crystal clear skies and unimaginable forms painted in warm light. At the polar latitudes golden moments are stretched amongst hours, affording even the bleary-eyed a chance at capturing stunning images.
Finding shelter in the beautiful Errera Channel, we anchored off dome-shaped Cuverville Island. Home to the Antarctic Peninsula’s largest Gentoo penguin colony, guests wandered the rubble-strewn shore gawking and fawning over the Antarctic’s most entertaining resident. It seemed most fitting today, as its World Penguin Day. While guests were on shore, Undersea Specialist Erin and I went for a dive to another world. We found vertical rocks covered with pore-filled sponges and stinging anemones. Sponges were everywhere and in colors most think are relegated to effortless tropical dives. Orange, yellow, pink, and purple are rarely found topside in Antarctica, but if you’re willing to don 100 lbs of dive equipment, I’ll show you that it does exist below the monochromatic world above.
Still playing hide-and-seek from the breeze, National Geographic Orion found a respite amongst the vertical walls surrounding Paradise Harbour. As luck would have it, the bay had already been claimed. From a distance it looked exciting. Right next to the Zodiac it was out-of-this-world. Vertical blows 15 feet high breaking the horizon. Giant tails silhouetted by icebergs. Baleen flashing in the afternoon light. Humpback whales had found their quarry amidst ivory cliffs and a slaty sea. For more than a few hours, guests could hardly believe how consistent the small groups of humpback whales would come to the surface, mouth agape, krill consumed. On a day that started with whitecaps and red noses, it was all smiles and tired shutter fingers.
