During the night, National Geographic Resolution moved along Adelaide Island. By morning, we reached the quiet waters of Marguerite Bay near the landing site on Pourquoi Pas Island. The sun was shining, and the sky was bright blue. Glaciers and snow atop the steep mountains sparkled.
After breakfast, guests set foot on Antarctica for the first time. Rounded boulders of different colors, all of volcanic origin, covered the shore. Several colonies of Adelie penguins were scattered around the high beach, hurrying back and forth between their nests and the shoreline. The most curious of the penguins came closer to us, and we greeted them with multiple clicks of cameras. Several brown skuas nested nearby, and a few kelp gulls observed us from their favorite high rocks. After walking around the penguin colonies, some guests climbed the steep slope of a terminal moraine. With guidance, they safely approached the edge of a melting glacier.
After lunch, the ship encountered fast ice in Bourgeois Bay. Guests had the opportunity to hike on the fast ice for about 1.5 km. We reached a small iceberg that froze into the fast ice last year, becoming a small landmark in the flat, white space. It was quite windy, but a few Weddell seals and a solitary crabeater seal enjoyed a perfect summer’s day near a breathing hole on one side of the iceberg. The seals seemed unbothered by people observing them.
After a scenic sail in the evening, our ship entered another fjord with fast ice. Bluish crevasses covered a descending glacier. We stayed in the bay until midnight. Some guests remained awake to watch a seal swimming right behind the stern of National Geographic Resolution.
