This morning, we landed at Petermann Island where we saw “PP” carved in stone at the water’s edge by sailors of the Pourquoi Pas. Onshore we discovered an elephant seal wallowing among gentoo penguins, saw Antarctic shag chicks nearly as big as the parents, and spotted Adelie chicks while gentoos still incubated eggs. After soaking in spectacular views at the top of the hill, we watched two kelp gull chicks that were amazingly well camouflaged against the rock. The snowy weather made it feel like a truly Antarctic experience.
After lunch, we landed and Zodiac cruised at Port Charcot. Fog soon settled in, which lent an air of mystery as we watched gentoo penguins trek up and down their hilly highways. From the vantage point of the hill-top cairn, we caught glimpses of spectacular icebergs among the mirror-calm waters below and could even hear whale blows. It turned out that guests in Zodiacs were treated to rafts of penguins and several humpbacks—some surfacing so close that they could smell the pungent breath from the blow hole!
