Ari in Antarctica

We’ve gone as far south as we can, sailing just into Marguerite Bay and gathering samples before turning back into the smooth lake-like waters around southern islands and straits just north of the bay. Now we’re officially heading back north, stopping in a new location every day until we reach Palmer Station again around May 19 th It’s hard to believe that back home it’s summer. That days are actually getting longer and hotter on the other side of the world, while I’m watching sea ice begin to form around our ship in the seven hours of dwindling daylight we now get. The shorter days make watching the sunrise easier, I can sleep in just a little bit longer on my days off, which up to this point, have been nonexistent. After sampling for five straight days, today we’re taking the day off from sampling, wrapping up some simple work and focusing on looking at the data we’ve collected so far and finally giving ourselves some rest. We’re almost halfway through the cruise,

It’s ice. It’s always ice. We’re currently avoiding a big storm right off the coast of the peninsula, staying tucked away around the island of Adelaide until the storm passes and we can enter into Marguerite Bay. Usually when a ship is headed to Marguerite Bay, they would sail on the outside of these protected waters, avoiding the tight passages and ice that can completely fill up this part of the Peninsula. Due to the storm, we chose to steam our way through the ice, and around all of the snow covered mountainous islands. This change of plan happened to bring us even closer to the wildlife of the seventh continent, passing by crabeater, leopard, and fur seals. Watching Minke and Humpback whales surface only dozens of feet from our bow. And noticing a few lone Adelaide penguins floating on large icebergs, safely out of reach of any of the predators swimming nearby. While the leisure/tourist parts of this cruise have been amazing, giving us indesc