We had a beautiful transit through Lemaire Channel early this morning with high mountain ridges towering above the ship and glaciers on the mainland side. About halfway into the channel, we encountered a pod of orca whales. We made a 360-degree turn to follow them for a bit before turning back south to make our way to Port Charcot. We disembarked and spent time on Booth Island with various colonies of gentoo, chinstrap, and Adelie penguins. Everyone had the option to take Zodiac cruises through the iceberg garden in the bay. After lunch, we made our way back through the Lemaire Channel to the aptly named Paradise Harbor for our final Zodiac cruise of the expedition.
1/1/2025
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Southbound, Drake Passage
It’s a foggy start to the day here in the Drake Passage as we make our way south towards the white continent of Antarctica. Today we will be crossing the polar front where water temperatures will plummet, and we can officially say we have entered Antarctic waters. This morning, we got to meet our eclectic expedition team that will be guiding us through the coming days, with the perfect mix of personalities and expertise. Also, this morning we had our first presentation by Naturalist Jackie Weston in the Ice Lounge entitled, “Brain Candy for Bird-Curious Humans”, where we learned more about the seabirds of the Southern Ocean. This afternoon we had our mandatory Antarctic landings briefing followed by a biosecurity decontamination in basecamp, where we cleaned and prepared all our outer gear and bags for the expedition ahead. Late afternoon, National Geographic Certified Photographer Andrew Peacock was joined by guests in the Ice Lounge to present some tips and tricks for using our smartphones for expedition photography. And to finish of this Drake Lake of a sea day, we were treated to a welcome by our very own Captain Martin Graser during cocktail hour and toasted to the trip ahead.
