Those of us with a sense of adventure and a thirst for glacial scenery were up and out on deck very early in the morning. Sailing through Lemaire Channel is a cherished moment for old and new ‘Antarcticans,’ the towering peaks and glaciers that mark the route of this narrow passage are an impressive sight that, mixed with steel-grey skies and mist, it feels like sailing into the unknown.
Today we landed at Booth Island, lying on the northern entrance of the Lemaire Channel. A welcome party of gentoo, Adèlie, and some chinstrap penguins were waiting on the landing site. However, more than greeting, they looked at the newcomers with polar indifference and went on their ways. The view from the top of the ridge is mesmerizing: in every spot of ice-free rocks there are penguins nesting, in every patch of snow and ice there are visible “penguin highways” with plenty of traffic going to and from the sea. Being here, it is simple to understand why the French explorer Jean Baptist Charcot decided to spend a winter on this island in 1904, mooring his vessel Français on the sheltered bay Port Charcot. His two expeditions to this area filled in the gaps of scientific understanding of the Antarctic, as well as providing numerous geographical names to the region.
There is no time for a lazy afternoon when you are traveling this far south. And south we went! The captain was willing to explore beyond the Lemaire Channel. We sailed through the Penola Strait and we encountered ice floes with Weddell and crabeater seals resting on it. Like wind-up toys, penguins were popping up to icebergs while we sailed by. The sound of the ship pushing through some brash ice made for a soothing background, which was occasionally interrupted by the crushing sound of bigger and harder floating ice. South of Penola strait lies Grandidier Channel, which is seldom visited by ships. The scenery had changed dramatically now, the snow-white peaks of the Antarctic Peninsula had dwarfed in the distance, and the sea was covered in icebergs and pack ice. As we approached a huge tabular iceberg we felt the air temperature drop and all went quiet; our fascination for ice made for this encounter with the frozen giant an almost spiritual experience. We have sailed the furthest south that the National Geographic Explorer has been this season. Merry Christmas everyone! We have reached 65⁰24’4” south.
