Sunday January 6, Lemaire Channel, Peterman Island, Pleaneau Bay and Port Lockroy:

This morning we had breakfast at the relatively civilized hour of 8am. After 3 cups of coffee, I was feeling human enough to head out on to the foredeck to enjoy our passage through the Lemaire Channel. Nick-named the "Kodak Canal," this was some of the most impressive scenery of the whole trip. The canyon walls are very high, and the channel is only a few football fields wide at some points. You can almost reach out and touch the jagged granite walls on each side. Glaciers cracked and popped, about to fall at any moment. Spectacular!



Then we "kitted up" for a visit to Petermann Island, which had gentoo colonies, and epic views of the Antarctic Peninsula, just a kilometer or two away.

Now we've had a tasty lamb stew for lunch, and we are getting ready for a Zodiac cruise of the "iceberg graveyard" at Pléneau Bay. (Back now.) Pretty awesome Zodiac cruise. Plenty of great icebergs in different states of erosion, plus perhaps a dozen seals, both leopard seals and crab-eater seals. I helped a friend shoot video off the bow on the way back to the ship, going FAST! Looking forward to watching that on YouTube.

Port_Lockroy: This port has been used for 100+ years, first by sealers, as a whaling station, and by the British Navy in WWII. Great anchorage. Weinke Island's mountains shield the port from the katabatic winds. Moving water currents keep ice off the water, & also keeps temperatures slightly more moderate.

Port Lockroy was restored as a working base and post office in 1996. To reinforce territorial claims, the British build post offices and sell stamps. OTOH, the Argentines build hotels and have babies. The postcards we mail here go first to Port Stanley (Falklands/Malvinas) by ship, and then to England, and then to it's destination.

Per Rick, the main guy behind Port Lockroy station: "This story isn't politically correct, but I will tell it anyway.... The dogs like penguins. To eat. They are self-maintaining. Before the treaty protected the penguins and banned all non-native species, whalers, explorers and expedition staff would tie their dog teams in parallel lines on either side of penguin paths. The penguins would have to run the gauntlet. The dogs were well fed."

I stayed at with the penguins till 10:30pm. Damn entertaining.