It was a foggy sea day on National Geographic Endurance as we passed through the Amundsen Sea and into the Bellingshausen Sea, making our way towards the Antarctic Peninsula. It was a busy morning for the ship’s crew with emergency ship drills taking place, which is an extremely important part of working life on board a ship such as this.
Later in the morning, we joined naturalist Katya Uryupova in the Ice Lounge for her presentation “Specially Designed for Antarctica; How Antarctic Stations are Constructed,” which provided great insight into how bases are made to survive the extreme polar conditions. After lunch, we enjoyed a sneak peek behind the scenes of this incredible vessel with galley and back of house tours, as well as engine room tours that took guests deep down into the inner workings of the ship.
Midafternoon, we approached Peter I Island. As we found our anchorage, the sheer island cliffs and slopes appeared out of the fog, allowing us to glimpse an island that is little known by science. We can add our very own eyes to the very small list of intrepid explorers who have seen this remote rock in the middle of the Bellingshausen Sea.
Later, we convened in the Ice lounge once again to listen to undersea specialist Brett Garner present on “Animal Adaptations to the Antarctic Cold.” Sometimes it is hard to imagine how life finds a way to survive in this frozen part of our planet.
As we close this chapter in our voyage and as the Antarctic Peninsula approaches, we have time to collect our thoughts and ready ourselves for the next exciting leg of this adventure.
