Country: Antarctica
Categories
Weddell Sea and eastern Antarctic Peninsula
If the ice conditions permit, we now sail into the Weddell Sea. Here colossal tabular icebergs herald your arrival to the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Read MoreAntarctic Sound and Elephant Island routing
If conditions aren't favorable to enter the Weddell Sea from the east, the ship sets course for Elephant Island and heads into the Bransfield Strait, between the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. Here you can attempt to access the Antarctic Sound from the northwest.
Read MoreBransfield Strait and Gerlache Strait scenic cruising
The breathtaking scenery continues in the Bransfield Straight and, if conditions allow further South in the Gerlache Strait. Soak in time surrounded by an epic landscape of alpine peaks and mammoth glaciers calving at sea level.
Read MoreDrake Passage crossing and seabird watching
Over the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same experiences encountered by the great polar explorers who first charted these regions: cool salt breezes, rolling seas, and possibly Fin Whale spouting up sea spray. After passing the Antarctic Convergence—Antarctica's natural boundary, formed when north-flowing cold waters collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas—you are in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone formed when north-flowing colder waters meet warmer seas. This part of our voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, we're greeted by the vast array of seabirds. We feast our eyes on possible Black-browed, Light-mantled, Gray-headed, Southern Royal, and Wandering Albatross from the ship. Cape and White-chinned Petrels accompany us.
Read MoreSouth Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula landings
The volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked in mist, but they nonetheless offer many subtle pleasures. A wide variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and fauna (Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins and Southern Giant Petrel) live here. Throughout the area ice chunks provide haul outs for Crabeater and Weddell Seals and we may see the predatory Leopard Seal dining on penguins at sea. We also keep watch for the pretty Antarctic Shag. The whole region seems a wonderland, with deep blue ice appearing like giant, other-worldly sculptures. The sudden crack of calving glaciers can create a large wave splashing ashore on icebergs. Each cove features ice encrusted landscapes, jagged rocks, and cliffs carved and polished by glaciers. Rock towers surrounded by snow and ice are known as nunataks. Chinstrap Penguin pose, then pop into the water where they are as agile as fish. With luck you can see them slide across the snow on their bellies. Penguins porpoise, whales roll and blow, skuas, shags, terns, and petrels fly by. A Snowy Sheathbill fluttered onto the ship deck, pecking in shallow pools of water for something to eat. The air is fresh and clean most of the time, except when downwind from a penguin colony. The scenic grandeur of mountains, glaciers, floating ice, and sea has become a constant. And the sea here is alive with penguins, seals, whales, and birds. It literally churns with life, including the rivers of tiny krill that support the Antarctic wildlife. Massive swarms of krill comprise the vital broad base of the Antarctic food pyramid.
Read MoreAntarctic Landscape Photography
Vast blue bergs littering the seas and huge snow-covered peaks flanking the channels make even wildlife-less moments memorable on the peninsula, and the landscape is worth the journey on its own.
Read MoreChinstrap Penguin Colony Landing
A landing at a vast chinstrap penguin colony, where the birds throw their heads back to call within a few feet of visitors; a five-metre rule applies, though the curious penguins often ignore it.
Read MoreAdélie Penguin Colony Landing
A substantial Adélie penguin colony on the peninsula offers close views of these white-eyed birds as they come ashore to breed, attending to their chicks and wandering awkwardly across the ice.
Read MoreAntarctic Landings and Zodiac Excursions
Shore landings and Zodiac excursions around the peninsula and continental Antarctica, with the route and landing sites decided by the captain and expedition leader according to ice and weather and explained in the regular briefings.
Read More