Our first full day in Antarctica began under near-perfect blue skies as the ice-covered landscape and rocky slopes surrounded us as we navigated into Antarctic Sound on the western side of the peninsula. Just ahead lay the distinctive volcanic feature giving the site we'd make our first landing its name – Brown Bluff. Located on the continental mass of the peninsula, many of our compliment of guests will be obtaining their seventh continent as an added bonus.
The eastern side of the peninsula or “dry” side harbors many penguin colonies that exhibit an advanced timing in terms of nesting behavior and development of the chicks due to the relatively low amount of snowfall over the winter. Primarily serving as a site for the Adelie penguin, with roughly 7,000 pairs breeding here, we were able to get up close and personal to the birds and witness the process first-hand. Many of the nests had recently hatched chicks only days old, while other pairs were still incubating their precious eggs. Gentoo penguins have also taken a foothold here with small rookeries on the periphery. For a different perspective on the activity around a large penguin colony and to get a chance to explore the waters and take in the scenery, we also set out in Zodiacs, examining the myriad ice formations in the water, watching penguins in their watery environment and glimpsing them atop icebergs, resting from an active morning of feeding out at sea.
From Brown Bluff we chose to navigate across the ice-strewn Antarctic Sound to another body of water called Active Sound, named as such for the geologic fault line that millions of years ago formed the sound itself. Our goal here was to find a stable stretch of “fast ice” in order to “park” our ship and get a sense of what it's like to be on the ice, like an Adelie penguin in winter. Deemed “fast ice” for the fact that the winter formed sea ice is held fast to the shore of the sound or bay. Our captain, crew and expedition team located such an expanse and near full steam plowed the bow of our ice-sturdy vessel several hundred feet into the ice, which measured 2-4 feet in thickness. After very close examination and physical probing of the ice on foot by our expedition staff, we gave the all-clear to make this our home for the next few hours.
We set up a perimeter in which to be able to freely explore the ice, and in moments the Adelie penguins and hauled-out seals had a new and interesting assortment of visitors. Within minutes the curious penguins would waddle over to get a closer look at the red-coated animals. The ice was so stable, flat and easy to get around on that some folks took to kicking a soccer ball around or tossing a Frisbee to each other. The charcoal grill was set up and our hotel and galley crew treated us to delicious snack of steak lomito sandwiches. The scene and overall feeling of the afternoon was filled with excitement, wonder and a real sense of exploration. A fine way to spend the first full day of Antarctic Summer!
