Day 20 – a zodiac cruise through the islands

Today is our last day visiting Antarctica. It was a beautiful sunny day. The day started with just a few wispy clouds even though they are calling for some snow later in the day.

We took a zodiac cruise through the Melchoir islands, including a look at the Argentinian station here – it was one of the first research stations established in Antarctica. It is no longer in use. I guess they stopped using it during Covid.

We saw a few Chinstrap penguins (the ones with the black line along their neck) and an Adelie penguin at the station.

We also saw a Gentoo swimming, so as our expedition guide said, we had the trifecta at this place.

There was also a Weddell Seal – beached up on the snow.

And, I don’t recall what this organism is called, but the red dot is it’s stomach and it is gelatinous feeling.

We got to witness the tide going out in this area – the water level dropped about a meter in an hour. There also were some interesting lichens and mosses attached to the rocks in the area.

It was also interesting to see where little snowballs had rolled down and made a bit of a pattern on the face of the snow cliffs.

We looked at some clear ice from a glacier. Hold it up to your ear and you can even hear it cracking.

This chinstrap has some real adventure in him. He climbed up to the top of the iceberg.

After lunch, we bid adieu to Antarctica and started the two-day crossing to return to Ushuaia.

Praying for a smooth crossing of the Drake Passage back to South America.