An overview of the trip is available
here.
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| Fort Point |
This was our first day in Antarctica. We stopped at Fort Point on Greenwich Island, where the expedition team surveyed the landing site, only to find a lot of fur seals right where we would come ashore. The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators has a set of rules to which the member cruise lines adhere. One of the rules requires distance from wildlife that was not possible here; the seals were too numerous and too close to the landing site. This landing was cancelled.
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| Fur Seals at Fort Point |
After leaving Fort Point, we sailed a short distance to Yankee Harbor, which is also on Greenwich Island. The wind was driving light rain so hard that it stung my face. This was easily the most uncomfortable outing of the entire trip. We landed amid a colony of Gentoo Penguins, with a trio of Elephant Seals resting among them. This being the very first landing, I clumsily handled my camera and the dry bag in the wind and rain. Not knowing whether we'd see anything better in the coming days, I shot more than I needed to.
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| Elephant Seals |
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| Gentoo Penguins |
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| Gentoo Penguins |
We landed here in marginal conditions because we had been aboard for 3 days and the expedition leader really wanted to get the first excursion done. After so much time planning for the trip, flying so far, and enduring the Drake Passage, I was glad to finally set foot in Antarctica, even if it was an island, not the continent.
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