This morning we awoke to another spectacular Antarctica day shining into our cabin windows. Our expedition leader Doug Gould woke us up via the public address system to announce that the ship was currently surrounded by a huge pod of killer whales. We quickly donned our parkas and headed up onto deck to marvel at these majestic creatures playing in the surrounding calm ocean.
Afterwards, we sat down to a hearty breakfast only to be once again interrupted by an announcement that we were now surrounded by a pod of humpback whales—we immediately realized this was going to be one amazingly epic day!
Just as the humpback whales left us the Captain spotted a perfect piece of fast ice ahead of the ship in Active Sound and charged at full speed towards it. After a few shakes and an abrupt stop we were officially parked in the ice. Zodiacs were quickly lowered and Anja, our assistant expedition leader, soon announced that we were going all going kayaking along the ice edge where hundreds of Adele penguins were playing in the crystal clear water.
Words cannot accurately describe the experience we had next—hundreds of Adele penguins feeding under the ice sheet only to return to the surface with a giant leap into the air! Our kayaks were the perfect vessel to get us silently up close to this sea of penguins.
After a late lunch we arrived at our first continental landing, Brown Bluff, and many of us ticked off our final continent on our bucket list. We stepped ashore into another huge penguin colony with a massive stone escarpment towering above us. We watched the penguins closely guarding their precious eggs and fighting each other for rocks and pebbles to add to their nest.
All too soon it was 7 p.m. and we headed back to the ship for our special Antarctic New Year’s Eve Dinner with a special menu. After dinner we were invited into the lounge to enjoy a drink and watch a very special musical performance from our very talented crew of the National Geographic Orion.
As the New Year approached we had one last surprise waiting for us, with little warning the ship once again grinded to a halt and as we peered out the windows we discovered we were once again ‘parked’ in the sea ice in Active Sound. The gangway was lowered onto the ice and we all stepped precariously onto the thin ice sheet to enjoy a glass of champagne and ring in the New Year with the humpback whales and Adele penguins also joining us for the festivities.
What an incredibly epic day we have had. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the New Year than dancing on an ice sheet and drinking champagne, surrounded by the inquisitive animals of Antarctica.
Happy New Years from everyone in Antarctica!
