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Sunday, February 7, 2010 Antarctica |
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Monday, 08 February 2010 08:47 |
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Land ahoy! We are finally here!
We looked out our port hole this morning at 5:00 a.m for the first sighting of the great white continent. It is glorious, magnificent and awe inspiring.
We went ashore on the Zodiacs to Petermann Island where both the Gentoo and Adelie penguins have their colonies. It takes a few minutes to adjust to the strong smell. It was an amazing sight to see so many penguins in their natural habitat. I believe I took over a hundred photos! The penguins have no fear of humans and come right up to you. They travel around the island using trails that they have made in the snow and hop from rock to rock oblivious to their guests.
We spent the morning on the island and took a short cruise on the Zodiacs to see leopard and crabeater seals sunning themselves on small icebergs. We have also seen several pods of killer whales (Orcas) and humpback whales.
We're back on board the Polar Star and headed further south to the Fish Islands and Prospect Point where we will go ashore this evening.
Antarctica is more than I could have imagined. It is like stepping on to another planet where only animals live and humans are the intruders. No photos could possibly do justice to this magnificent land mass.
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