It’s a foggy morning with fairly calm seas. Antarctica waits for us, shrouded, mysterious, and might I say magical! We enter English Strait, a narrow passage that bisects the South Shetland Islands. Shortly we can see land, Barrientos Island, our proposed landing site after breakfast. There are penguins here and so much more to come. This is just the beginning of the adventure.
11/18/2024
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National Geographic Resolution
Kinnes Cove, Antarctic Peninsula
After an adventurous night of attempting to make it through lots of sea ice and into the Weddell Sea, we ended up turning back and spending our morning exploring an area a little further north. This turned out to provide stunning scenery and wildlife encounters as the morning unfolded. After breakfast, we deployed the Zodiacs and cruised around Kinnes Cove, enjoying excellent views of a resting leopard seal, crab eater seals, and gentoo and Adelie penguins swimming and walking across the fast ice. Antarctic shags were active in the cove, as the whole flock dove over and over, feeding on something underwater. Snow petrels were flying about, and two emperor penguins showed up and played in the water around the Zodiacs. We were all delighted with this perfect farewell to our incredible voyage to Antarctica. As we set sail northward to cross the Drake Passage again, we enjoyed a special Filipino buffet dinner, followed by a festive evening of entertainment from the renowned crew of National Geographic Resolution .
