Day 30. Antarctic Peninsula. 15.2.25

"On this voyage, under favourable conditions, we plan to cross the Antarctic Circle, an imaginary line located at latitude 66°33' south. This is certainly a special highlight for many expeditioners, and the moment will be celebrated with a toast on deck (conditions permitting). You have earned some boasting privileges, joining a small group of lucky adventurers who have ventured to this part of the world. As we approach The Circle, you will notice subtle changes in the landscape and in the distribution of wildlife. The waters at this time of year are rich with krill and we hope to see plenty of whales - particularly humpbacks and minkes. We also hope to enjoy the spectacle of penguins feeding their ravenous chicks."

*photo from yesterday courtesy of Mandy*

Day 17 of our Antarctic Tour.

No we will probably not be doing a polar plunge, our sense of adventure does not extend that far (maybe 🤷‍♀️) It is -2° but the wind chill is way colder than that. Winds are 40 knots and gusting at 55 knots so it may not be safe to do a landing or even the plunge. The crew will make a decision when we get to Detaille Island.

At about 7.45am this morning we crossed the Antarctic Circle. We got inked to prove it!

Still heading south.

We discovered a spot where the internet is slightly better, have spent an hour this morning trying to label yesterdays photos. 

"Detaille Island is a small island off the northern end of the Arrowsmith Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica. From 1956 to 1959 it was home to "Base W" of the British Antarctic Survey and closed after the end of the International Geophysical Year (IGY). Detaille was a key monitoring sites during the IGY. It is now often visited by Antarctic cruise ships but is otherwise unoccupied. Thanks to the men's hasty departure and the necessity that they take little with them, Base W is an eerily preserved time capsule of 1950s Antarctic life. The base had been intended to host dog-sledging survey parties which would cross the sea ice to the nearby Antarctic Peninsula, but the ice was dangerously unstable. When Base W was vacated, heavy sea ice prevented resupply ship Biscoe from approaching closer than 50 kilometres (31 mi), despite the assistance of two U.S. icebreakers. So the men were forced to close up the base, load sledges with only their most valuable gear and use dog teams to reach the ship." Taken from Wikipedia. 

The crew got into the zodiacs to see whether a landing was possible, it was but the winds were gusting at around the 50 knots mark. We, personally, had already decided we weren't going out before it was decided it was too unsafe getting on and off the ship and the excursion was cancelled. After all were back onboard we headed back out of the cove and headed north.

We spent the rest of the morning transferring photos to the laptop and watching humpback whales out the window. 

After lunch I found a cosy couch and snuggled up looking for wildlife out the window and catching up on uploading photos on day 24 on the blog. I didn't get it finished as I went to a history lecture halfway through my photos.

The expedition team organised a fun game where we got into teams and guessed how big certain animal body parts were. Pegs had to be placed on a rope at our suggested length. There was lots of laughing and dancing and everyone had a fun time.