What a glorious day! Passengers awoke to find sights of sunlit icebergs, greeting us with their pearly whites as we made our way to Antarctica’s western coast of the Trinity Peninsula. Our National Geographic photographer on board, Jeff Mauritzen, started off this morning’s lectures with captivating tales of his adventures while on assignment in Kenya, Tanzania, and the Galapagos. As the day passed on, more and more sea birds and large, tabular icebergs began to decorate our view. Rich Kirchner, our photo Instructor and naturalist, discussed tips and tricks of shooting on expeditions in his presentation “Creative Digital Photography”. Afterwards, guests and our staff broke out into smaller groups to hone in on specific questions about cameras and photography.
Ready to take enticing photos, we all bundled up and braved the sweeping winds to go out on deck and watch some absolutely spectacular views of icebergs. Captain Martin Graser expertly navigated us closer in between these massive, icy spectacles to behold the long blue fissures and caves. The shapes and colors made even the most experienced Antarctic travelers gaze in awe of the natural beauty.
With chilly hands and cheeks, guests trickled back inside for some warm beverages and to learn about IAATO’s guidelines for our landings here on the white continent. The vacuums and scrub brushes came out in order to decontaminate our outerwear so that all would be ready for the first landing.
Humpback whales were spotted cruising along with the ship and then we traded our binoculars in for a cocktail at the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party. There was much to celebrate after our first encounters with Antarctica, and there was eager anticipation for the Zodiac cruising to occur after dinner.
We made our first outing off the ship as we climbed into Zodiacs for a closer look at the icebergs, some penguins, various other sea birds, and a few minke and humpback whales! Not a bad start to the Antarctic season onboard the National Geographic Orion.
