This morning, National Geographic Explorer awoke to another bluebird day along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. On approach to the morning’s anchorage, we saw a number of humpback whales close to the ship in the Gerlache Strait. After breakfast we opted to either kayak or explore Graham Passage by Zodiac. Lots of ice in the water made for a beautiful outing and the Zodiac cruisers saw humpbacks, an elephant seal, shags, gentoo penguins, and even an Adelie in the mix. Graham Passage is named after an old whale catcher boat that foundered off the coast of Joinville Island in 1924 in a storm of blinding snow with the loss of her ten crew. A lifeboat was subsequently found with a frozen corpse, the only body recovered. Another geographic place name that helps tell the story of the peninsula’s past.
After lunch we were hoping to make a landing, but 30+ knots of wind did not allow that to happen, so we headed for Cierva Cove where we did a ship cruise. Beautiful evening light got us back on deck after dinner and we reveled in the beauty of Antarctica and our great fortune with the three cloudless days!
