We started our day with a landing on D’Hainaut Island in Mikkelsen Harbor. It was an absolutely beautiful day, one of those days where we see no evidence of the fact that Antarctica is the coldest and windiest place on Earth.
D’Hainaut Island, though small, offered plenty of things to see. Our interesting sightings started with piles of whale bones by the landing site, it continued with a colony of gentoo penguins, then the Argentinian refuge, and finished with breathtaking views over the mountains on the mainland. The glaciers of Trinity Island, encircling D’Hainaut, calved dramatically a few times as well.
While half of us were on land, our naturalist and historian, Josh Peck, gave a fantastic lecture on the Belgica expedition of Adrien de Gerlache. We then sailed further south to Cierva Cove, for both a Zodiac and ship cruise. This beautiful cove by the Argentinian Primavera Station has it all: two glaciers that calve huge icebergs, flourishing flora, gentoo and chinstrap penguins, seabirds, a Weddell seal, and a leopard seal on ice.
Time flies too fast when days are as enjoyable as this one.
