Yesterday is going down in everyone's journals as one of the trip's great highlights. The bright sun and warm temperatures made the spectacular scenery all the more special. A major party ensued on the stern deck once everyone was back on the ship -- music, hot tubs, great food, and lots of sun screen. With much less ozone in the atmosphere down here, people can burn really easily.
Afterwards, the captain gave us a little tour of the Weddell Sea; so we steamed east, past the tip of the peninsula and did a big, sweeping loop around monstrous tabular icebergs (the big, flat-topped ones the size of Manhattan) and bergy bits on which rested little clusters of Crab Eater Seals. It was a brilliant day.
We then headed back up the Antarctic Sound, turned southwest into the Bransfield Strait, and spent the night sailing towards the Gerlache Strait, a narrow passage that separates the mainland from a group of islands. We arrived early this morning at our goal, the tiny speck of land called Cuverville Island -- really just a rounded mountain poking up from the sea. It holds a nice adelie colony. Off to the north from our anchorage is Brabant Island; to the northwest is Anvers Island (whose southern shore is the home of the US's Palmer Station); and to the east and south is the mainland.
The excitement of the morning included two whale sightings -- one of orcas briefly passing the ship, and one of humpback whales feeding just a few hundred yards away. We could see tail flukes when they dived and their long, white pectoral fins when they rolled on the surface. Hope to see them in closer range.
I'm off to our expedition on Cuverviller Island. Will tell you all about it when I am back on board. Cheers!
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