Ship's Log: Overnight, the sea remained calm and we felt only a gentle roll as we cruised closer towards the South Shetland Islands. The M/V Corinthian was buzzing with energy, whale sightings and plenty of Cape Petrels, Southern Fulmars and a few Black-browed Albatross circled the ship. Those of us not up early were awoken at 8:00 am to Claudia’s announcement that we had crossed the Antarctic Convergence during the night and were now officially in Antarctica. At 8:30 am, two Nebraskans, Debbie Olson and Katherine Bell, spotted the first iceberg on the horizon! Katherine phoned the bridge and Katherine ran barefooted to the bridge, both simultaneously claiming the prize and winning bottles of champagn. At 10:00 am we spotted the glacier-coated mountains of the South Shetland Islands.
Spotted an Argentine Navy ship patrolling the area.
Ship's Log: Since we made such speedy travel across the Drake, we were going to be able to do a bonus
activity off the ship that afternoon- a Zodiac Tour! By 1:30 pm we were steaming through
Nelson Strait and into Admiralty Bay where the Zodiacs were lowered off the side of the ship
and we all toured around the Bay and it’s glaciers. A flock of Wilson’s Storm Petrels danced on
the surface feeding on Copepods, and we saw our first Salps of the trip floating at the surface.
We were also treated with a light snowfall, giving us a real Antarctic experience.
First time loading into the Zodiacs was an exhilarating experience.
Finally off the ship and into the water moving among the ice pieces. Got to see this large piece of glacier fall into the water (called calving). The sound was amazing.
After about an hour in the water we headed back to the ship for the night.
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