Today we crossed the Antarctic Circle! At 66 degrees 33 minutes south, the Antarctic Circle is the latitude where on Midsummer's Day, December 21st in the Southern Hemisphere, there is twenty-four-hour light. The early morning crossing was followed by numerous sightings of humpback whales. Some of the whales were spy-hopping in the loose pack ice while others were logging, a behavior associated with resting. Pure white snow petrels guided us further into the pack ice as we ventured into the great white unknown. We gazed from the deck at crabeater seals reclining on large ice floes, beckoning us deeper and deeper south (see the photo). Ice, dimpled and kissed by the sun, surrounded us as we finally headed north for our afternoon landing at Prospect Point. This point, which lies on the West coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, was discovered in 1934-37 and named by the governor of the Falkland Islands in 1957. Enticed by brilliant skies and calm waters we cruised our Zodiacs around mountainous icebergs and seal-covered ice floes. Adelie penguins porpoised through the water as the silence and beauty of Antarctica soaked into our souls.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 10 Feb 2000
From the Caledonian Star in Antarctica, 2/10/2000, National Geographic Endeavour
- Aboard the National Geographic Endeavour
- Antarctica
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