Snow Hill

Another beautiful sunny day, but cold and a little windy. We walked along the ice north from the ship. We set up our photography gear to take pictures of penguins jumping in and out of the icey sea.

We waited and waited. The few birds we thought would go into the water never did..and then other penguins were jumping out of the water all round us but never in the direction where our cameras were pointed.. the penguins were so funny. I think they were playing games with us... They apparently jump our of the sea at three at a time. I saw three jump out about five feet directly in front of me. My camera wasn't ready...but that image is imprinted in my mind forever.

My hands were freezing...so I gave up, the penguins won... I walked back to the ship and took closeups of the seals and penguins laying on the path back to the ship.

The rest of the day was incredible The day the breaker left the rookery was sad but perhaps the most incredible. We were given helicopter rides from the ship as the breaker powered through the solid sea ice. From the helicopter, we had a bird’s eye view of not only the vast icy environment but of the Kapitan Khlebnikov breaking through ice at full speed ahead. Previously, an expedition leader said “that on a clear day one can see a distance of 60 miles in Antarctica.” On that day he was correct. The view from the helicopter was an uninterrupted white endless plane. It was magnificent.

After the ride the ship headed onward to Devil's Island