Monday, 18/12/2023
Location: Lemaire Channel, Peterman Island, on the World Explorer
Agenda: Visiting penguins on Petermann Island, visiting iceberg graveyard on Zodiacs, and the Polar Plunge!
Lemaire Channel
In the morning, I woke up earlier than usual and joined the few early risers in the observation lounge to witness us going through the infamous Lemaire Channel. The Lemaire Channel had been blocked up with ice for the whole season, and it was foggy, and it looked like icebergs were blocking it up. Thankfully, our amazing captain thought it was okay to go through, so he very carefully and slowly navigated us through the foggy, extremely narrow channel. On either side, tall mountain cliffs and glaciers rose up, making it seem like we were sailing through a trench. The end did have icebergs in it, but not too many. Our expedition was the first of the season to make it through the channel!!
On The Other Side
On the other side, we cruised to Pettermann Island near the Kyiv peninsula and the Vernadsky base. The Vernadsky base is the Antarctic base that Ukraine bought from the British for one British pound. The British really did not want the base, and the Ukrainians wanted a base but could not build one, so they got one almost for free.
Petermann Island has a penguin colony and a Chilean hut for emergencies, but the hut has been overridden by penguins, so we could not go see it. The place where we landed was a small rocky “beach” big enough for two Zodiacs side by side. There were penguins everywhere! The guides made trails through the snow up to the main penguin nesting spots, and we trudged up perfect snow hills to see them.
Are Penguins Actually Cute?
Everyone says penguins are super cute, and I think they are mistaken. In my opinion, antarctic penguins do not look cute. They have beady little eyes and are covered in their own poop. The smallest penguin, however, is very cute. The little blue penguin is the only one that is cute, and it’s not in Antarctica. I saw some in New Zealand but only for a few moments. These Adelie penguins on Petermann Island were funny, not cute. They go around trying to make nests for their mates by piling up rocks. Antarctica naturally does not have many small rocks, so penguins just go around stealing rocks. I watched a single penguin go around his group, trying to find rocks but resorting to stealing. Meanwhile, his mate was protecting their nest from a greedy neighbor who repeatedly tried to steal the same rock, only to be fended off by loud penguin squawks.
After Peterman Island
After Petermann Island, we did not get to cruise around in Zodiacs; we just went back to the ship. On the ship, I had lunch and worked on felting penguins to pass the time. We were heading to an iceberg graveyard. You might be wondering, what is an iceberg graveyard??? It is an area with a bunch of grounded icebergs. They don’t move, and it does look rather eerie.
Ice Berg Zodiac Cruising
In the graveyard, we carefully cruised around because it was very shallow. Our guide was Shasha (Alexander), and he got us to a seal! This seal was just lying on the ice, totally chill. Seals have very chill lives, they eat fish and krill and lay around all day sleeping. This seal took the trouble to wave at us and lift its head, but then it went back to sleep. There were no clusters of penguins, but we found a single penguin trying to fish in a foot of water. It just stood there, dove down, then came back up to stare at the water. It looked very sad. On our way back to the ship, we rounded a corner and encountered some whales hanging out, logging by some zodiacs. Everyone was silent, just watching them, and it was very beautiful.
Polar Plunge
Who would go to Antarctica, be offered to do the polar plunge, and turn it down?? Me. I was sadly the only one in my family who did not get into the -7 degrees Celsius water. I don’t like jumping into ocean water, and if it’s freezing water, I definitely didn’t want to do it. I greatly enjoyed seeing my sister be the first one on the whole ship to get in the water! One after the next, my family went. Almost 80 passengers went, and the best part was hearing their surprised yelp of “It’s cold!!!” or “It’s salty!!” Alot of people were surprised that it was salty. lol
After my family went, I raced down to the mudroom to greet them, and I saw a lot of people lined up in white bathrobes, waiting to jump willingly into freezing water. I don’t understand it! I would not put myself through that. Alas, I will probably regret it later in life…
Lemaire Channel, Again
The rest of the day was spent on dinner, relaxing, and drinking a lot of cocoa. All of that is very uninteresting, though. So, I get to tell you about the night time Lemaire Channel. In the morning, when we went through, it was foggy, cold, rainy, and not very majestic. In the night, however… I will let the following picture do the talking
How insane does this look?? The water was like glass, and there was a gentle mist on the tops of the mountains. Everything was perfectly quiet, and it was not too cold, so everyone was outside. It was just so breathtaking!! I can’t get over the moments I spent staring at this mountain, open-mouthed, silent in awe.
That’s what Antarctica does to you. It makes you stop and stare at the world as if it’s your first sight of it because it is just so beautiful!
Here are the pictures from today! Enjoy!
