Explore
Location: Antarctic Peninsula
While sailing to Antarctica, every turn can reveal a new and breath-taking adventure. As the pack ice becomes thicker, it’s apparent to everyone that we are moving closer into Antarctica’s vast white wilderness. Remote and otherworldly, Antarctica is irresistible for its spectacular iceberg sculptures and calving glaciers, and for the possibility of up-close encounters with marine mammals. Watch for seals sunbathing on slow-moving ice floes and for humpback, Minke, and orca whales to surface from below the frigid waters. Each day we will attempt Zodiac departures, and, if conditions permit, we will cruise amidst colourful icebergs or step ashore to visit a variety of penguin rookeries and perhaps scientific research stations on complimentary excursions led by our team of natural history experts.
A flexible itinerary allows us to take advantage of favourable sea and weather conditions. In the true spirit of expedition cruising, each day the Expedition Leader and Captain will determine our best course depending on weather, ice conditions and wildlife we may encounter. Here are some of the places we may visit:
Brown Bluff, Tabarin Peninsula (a 2,200-foot bluff on the Antarctic continent)
- Brown Bluff is an ice-capped, 745-metre-high, flat-topped mountain with a prominent cliff of reddish-brown volcanic rock.
- Adelie and gentoo penguins, kelp gulls, and pintado petrels use this as a breeding area.
- Birds such as the all-white snow petrel and skuas may be seen from a distance.
- As you explore the area, a Weddell seal may be seen basking in the sunlight.
- Wait long enough and you might see the Adelie penguins standing along the rocks, finally making their way into the surf.
Cuverville Island, Errera Channel
- The island was discovered by Gerlache’s Belgian Antarctic expedition of 1897–99, and was named for a vice admiral in the French navy.
- Large, bare rock areas provide nesting sites for gentoo penguins.
- Snow petrels and pintado petrels may be seen, and Wilson’s storm petrels nest in the higher scree of the island.
- During Zodiac tours, we hope to see hauled-out Weddell and Antarctic fur seals
Paradise Bay (on the Antarctic peninsula)
- The bay is well named for its spectacular scenery of mountains, glaciers and icebergs.
- From the ship, observe Argentina’s Base Brown, one of many Antarctic research stations.
- Here, you will actually set foot on the continent of Antarctica.
- View the wildlife from sea level while cruising in your Zodiac with one of our experienced Expedition Team members. There’s a good chance you’ll come across a crab eater seal relaxing on a nearby ice floe, or if you’re very lucky, your Zodiac driver may locate a pod of Minke whales.
Port Lockroy, Goudier Island
- The British built a listening station here during WWII, which was then used as a research station in the 1950s, and since 1962 as a museum and gift shop.
- Snowy sheathbills and gentoo penguins roam outside the museum.
- Perhaps sight a whale or two during a Zodiac cruise.
Paulet Island
- As you arrive, the sight of Adelie penguins covering the entire island may well amaze you. The island is home to 80-90 thousand Adelies that come here to breed.
- On a nearby hill, view a massive colony of blue-eyed shags.
- Kelp gulls and snowy sheathbills are amongst the birds that breed on Paulet Island, and Wilson’s storm petrels are regularly seen.
- Listen as your Expedition Team guide tells of Otto Nordenskjold and his party that over-wintered on the island in 1912. Remnants of their hut still remain.
- If time permits, take a Zodiac cruise to view Crater Lake, impossibly blue icebergs, and Adelie penguins making themselves at home on the ice floes.
Port Foster, Whalers Bay (Deception Island)
Deception Island is home to a collapsed volcano and an excellent example of a caldera where it is believed that the volcano’s summit collapsed with one section sinking far enough to allow the sea to flood the interior. We plan to sail inside this breached wall through a narrow entrance called Neptune’s Bellows.
Our resident geologist will take the opportunity to explain the unique volcanic features of the area while our historian will introduce you to the whaling history of Deception Island.
Still visible on the island are the boilers used to make whale oil in the early 1900s.