Antarctica

We awoke early this morning to bright sunshine and clear skies with only a hint of a breeze. The temperature is just below freezing or, as the old explorers would have said, six degrees of frost. We are surrounded by mountains, glaciers, and icebergs as we navigate a narrow channel along the peninsula.



The beauty is indescribable. Never have we experienced air so clear. It is impossible to judge distance. We were escorted by a pod of hump back whales.



We anchored off Cuverville Island and made a wet zodiac landing among a large Gentoo penguin rookery.






It is difficult to absorb the absolute beauty and purity of our surroundings.






While cruising the bay we strayed into a female leopard seal's territory. A huge creature, twelve feet in length with the head of a reptile and the teeth of a leopard. She circled the zodiac and it was necessary to gun the motor as she attempted to bite the zodiac. At one point she was able to bite the speed tube on the pontoon. Leopard seals are capable of puncturing the pontoons of a zodiac.

It has been a remarkable day and we have much yet to do. We continued south and are now anchored off another landing. Due to the cliffs and glaciers there are few landing sites.



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Location:Errera Channel, Antarctica