29 Jan 2015
Minkes and Ice
The weather continues to be in our favour with calm seas, sunshine and Mt Erebus in all her glory. During the night we relocated to Cape Evans where we took the opportunity to inspect Captain Scott’s hut, enhance our photo collections and enjoy the surroundings. Later we had a superb Zodiac cruise around some grounded icebergs festooned with icicles before following the ice edge.
Ice Berg Cruise
Minke Whales Encounter
Scores of Adelie Penguins were lined up like soldiers, while others swam in large groups around the Zodiacs. They were soon joined by several Minke Whales blowing and diving very close to us. Even seasoned expeditioners on the staff were impressed with these outstanding close encounters. We also viewed the coloured volcanic rocks of the Delbridge Islands before returning to the ship for an excellent lunch.
This evening we are making our way towards the Ross Ice Shelf which we are scheduled to reach around midnight. Along the way we will pass some beautiful polar landscapes including Cape Crozier, which has a large Adelie Penguin colony and an Emperor Penguin colony during winter.
Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful time at Cape Royds, landing at 0900 on Black Sand Beach. It was warm and sunny making the crystals in the rocks spar…READ MORE
Everyone met in the Lecture Room at 0300hrs for a briefing on our landing on Franklin Island. The light as we went ashore was nothing short of specta…READ MORE
We have just had an incredibly busy and invigorating 24 hours!At around 1900hrs yesterday we encountered a lone Emperor Penguin resting on the ice pa…READ MORE