Antarctica 2010 - Page 07
Saturday, January 16, 2010, Antarctic Circle
At 7:01am (2:01am PST) local time we crossed the Antarctic Circle at 63.33.70 degrees south, as we sailed in the Darbel Bay / Crystal Sound. It continued to snow as we sailed south amongst the icebergs. As we passed thru The Gullet we saw birds, seals and whales. Quite often we contact small ice floes which can be very clearly heard as they bump and scrape along the hull, slightly rocking the ship. We saw several intensely blue icebergs, which are from the bottom layer of the glacier and therefore intensely packed to create the deep rich blue.
67.25.99 S x 67.55.61 W. Our farthest-most South. I went for a 1-hour Zodiac ride in the calm Marguerite Sea between Adelaide Island and Webb Island. We saw several Crabeater, Leopard, Weddell, and Elephant seals resting on the many small icebergs.
We were invited to dinner in the Chart Room along with naturalists Aileen Miller and Paula Casanovas.
Going to the Weddell Sea and then sailing this far south are not part of the advertised itinerary. We believe these were added partly because of 3 special guests, Buzz Aldrin, the President of "National Geographic", and the father of Tim Soper the Expedition Leader who in his younger days was also an Expedition Leader.
