What a splendid, sunny, vibrant, and majestic day on the Antarctic peninsula! A morning of kayaking around ice in the gorgeous Wilhelmina Bay, named after the queen of the Netherlands, and Zodiac tours was followed by an afternoon spent summiting the saddle overlooking Orne Harbor. It was a busy and sweaty afternoon, but our hard work trekking through slick snow rewarded us with stunning views of glassy water and the Gerlache Strait in the distance. To cap it all off, we had humpback whales throughout the day, and the afternoon hikers were greeted by a group of chinstrap penguins and chicks on high-up rocks. What a treat!
2/9/2025
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National Geographic Explorer
Cierva Cove and Mikkelsen Harbour
Our morning in Cierva Cove started quite cold but beautifully, with the right balance of clouds and sunshine to admire the blue ice in this large bay filled with icebergs and brash ice. Our program was Zodiac cruising for one half of our guests and ship cruising closer to the glacier for the other half, before switching. During our Zodiac cruise, we had the pleasure of seeing chinstrap penguins in the water as well as on shore, icebergs of all sizes and shapes, and humpback whales. Later in the morning, we briefly spotted a group of four or five orcas, including a calf. It was the most amazing sighting, and both Zodiac and ship cruisers got to enjoy it. Needless to say, we could have stayed there forever if not for the heavy snowfall that started as we finished. We continued further north, chasing the sunshine in Mikkelsen Harbour, where we had a landing by a colony of gentoo penguins. Everybody got to see the gentoo chicks; they are already big by this time of the year. A great session of recap and underwater footage concluded this fantastic day.