The Antarctic Circle

The National Geographic Endeavour approached the Antarctic Circle, passing huge tabular icebergs. Virtually every shade of gray played out in the clouds, while the ice glowed white with a bluish cast. A blast from the ships’ horn signaled our official passage over the imaginary line, 66 degrees, 33.6 minutes south latitude. Pushing a bit further south to watch two humpback whales, we reached 66° 33.66'.

At this morning’s program, Oceanites researchers Heather Lynch and Melissa Rider explained the important research that they and their colleagues do in Antarctica. This NGO is supported by both Lindblad Expeditions and The National Geographic Society. Oceanites is dedicated to monitoring the biological diversity of the Antarctic Peninsula, particularly breeding birds. The vast majority of this work has been done from the National Geographic Endeavour. Over the last fourteen years, the Oceanites Antarctic Site Inventory has documented rapid and widespread changes in the populations of penguins. This data is used by the expedition and scientific communities.

The Fish Islands are often inaccessible due to heavy concentrations of grounded icebergs. The members of the British Graham Land Expedition, in the mid 1930's, must have had a great deal of fun in naming these outcroppings. Looking on the chart, one finds Flounder, Trout, Salmon, Mackerel, Plaice and Perch Islands, as well as a group of smaller islets named The Minnows. Our Zodiacs were deployed to help us explore the area around Perch Island. The scenery here is splendid. Beautiful blue icebergs, sculpted by water, wind and sun looked as if they could have come from another planet. A compliant leopard seal provided great viewing opportunities. Hikers on Perch Island found adelie penguins and great views. While we enjoyed the area, Melissa and Heather were hard at work counting penguins and Antarctic shags on Minnow Island Number 7.