With great anticipation many of us woke up early, as today was the day we entered the Lemaire Channel, one of the most scenic areas in all of Antarctica. To the chart room we clamored ready to fill our coffee cups and behold a spectacle that would leave us all in awe. As we gazed out the windows our eyes opened to sight of something we had not even thought would greet us, snow! As hearts sunk, a gentle voice over the PA confirmed our worst fears—no visibility. But wait, we are an expedition and no mere snowstorm can stay us from our chosen adventure. We pushed ahead and continue to our next destination for the morning, Booth Island.
At Booth Island, as at many of our landings, we separated into two groups. One band of intrepid adventurers would visit a penguin colony where not one, but all three species of brush-tailed penguins breed. The others would set off in Zodiacs to explore a waterway of giants, the iceberg graveyard.
By now, the snow had dissipated but the gray sky that lingered illuminated the icebergs in their softest glowing blue and turquoise hues. A raft of gentoo penguins bobbed at the surface and then would suddenly disappeared, bottoms up and then diving down in a cooperative feeding foray. The cloud cover lifted a bit, offering a teasing look at the peaks surrounding Booth Island.
Upon our return to the ship, our navigations took us through Penola Strait. There was much ice in the strait and with our strengthened hull we went plowing forward. The ship shuddered and hesitated before continuing on our track south. Along the outer floe edges we saw crabeater seals slumbering and small groups of penguins resting as well. We turned north and after a second pass through a partially clearing Lemaire Channel came upon a sighting that left everyone astonished. Killer whales, at least four individuals that included one male. The large eye patches were a distinctive diagnostic clue that these were the Big B or Pack-Ice killer whales. They approached ice floes and, as a group, would spy hop along the edge of the ice, peeking over the side to see if a plump seal, a potential meal, might be hauled out and resting. To witness this behavior employed in a deliberate search for food was more than amazing. We followed the group from floe to floe until it came time for us to break off and head towards our destination of tomorrow.
Today we rode a rollercoaster of emotions from high expectations, disappointment and at times palatable anticipation. By the end of the ride and the day we were swept up into summary of experiences that calculated out to three shades of awesome. A memorable day to say the very least.
