It’s Christmas Eve and it seemed that everyone on board the National Geographic Explorer must have been good this year because we received our Christmas present early, a pod of killer whales. This morning at 6:30 a.m. we were awakened to find our gift swimming back and forth around the ship’s bow. I think no one could have asked for a better present, and to top it off, a gentle snow whirled around us as we watched the large dolphins investigate us. We finished our time with the orcas, and then it was off to the dining hall for a hearty breakfast. We were barely past our last bites when the captain announced that we might want to once again venture onto the deck for the spectacle of tabular icebergs as we navigated through the waters known as Iceberg Alley. It was turning into quite the day. In the afternoon our first landing on the continent was at Brown Bluff, where a huge colony of Adélie penguins resides.