Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Antarctica: Lemaire Channel and Petermann Island

An overview of the trip is available here.

Gloomy Lemaire Channel Transit with a Humpback Whale Blowing (Lower Right)

In the morning we arrived off Renard Island to do a landing. This was cancelled because of ice blocking the approach. We then transited the Lemaire Channel southbound in intermittent fog, low overcast and drizzle. This was an amazing place that I was looking forward to seeing, but sadly it was shrouded in clouds. I stood on deck in cold drizzle. I underdressed; my shoes, pants, and gloves got soaked. Even with the clouds and fog, I didn’t want to run back to my cabin to get better clothing because I was afraid I’d miss something great. I shot a few landscapes, but ended up rejecting all of them. I did enjoy watching a group of three Humpback Whales that stayed with the ship during the transit, surfacing as a group.

Two Humpback Whales, Scars Visible on Left Whale's Back

Humpback Whale Trio

The Lemaire Channel transit was all too brief and unsatisfying in the poor weather. We spent the rest of the day off Petermann Island. Initially we were to make a landing, but there was too much brash ice clustered at the landing site, so we had a zodiac cruise under overcast skies and intermittent drizzle. There we visited a Gentoo Penguin colony and saw the only 2 other ships of the whole peninsula cruise.

Gentoo Penguins


There were a few Adélie Penguins mixed in with the Gentoos.

Adélie Penguin

A Chilean icebreaker passed by while we were out on the water, a rare sighting of another ship.

Icebreaker

Intended Landing Site on Petermann Island



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