Kinnes Cove

Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 - afternoon

Ship's Log: A tasty lunch was enjoyed as we cruised among several large tabular icebergs, spawned from massive ice shelves in the Weddell Sea, en route to our planned afternoon zodiac cruise at Kinnes Cove on Joinville Island. This site was named for R. Kinnes who sponsored the Dundee whaling expedition of 1892-93. Zodiacs were dropped upon reaching the site and we headed out for an exhilarating one-hour zodiac cruise. A large amount of ice was just north of the ship and afforded an opportunity for us to see Adélie Penguins lounging on bergy bits. Here we got to see pancake ice, which is a thin layer of ice that is formed when seawater nears freezing. When we neared shore, we got to see hundreds of Adelie’s that attended their chicks as well as birds departing or returning to the colony.

This afternoon we boarded the zodiacs to ride through the ice fields of Kinnes Cove. As exciting as it was to actually land on the continent of Antarctica, the experience of riding among all the ice was very soul moving. I had seen pictures and videos but to actually be out among all the ice and experience first hand this amazing force of nature is beyond description.

We came across a Leopard seal laying upon a bergy bit and had the opportunity to get up close and personal. As luck would have it, our zodiac driver Federico spent 3 years working through a grant to study, tag and track Leopard seals in this cove. His excitement and enthusiasm about the chance to share this experience with us was infectious. 

An Adelie penguin showing us the way back to our ship.