Would you like ice with that?

We made it to Antarctica today and hey, they have ice here! Lots and lots and lots of ice. We cruised past ice bergs, bergie bits (official term - smaller than an iceberg, larger than 5m all around), growlers and other bits of ice - all beautiful and amazing and cool (pun intended) to look upon and all that. Glaciers by the hundreds and little peguinos body surfing everywhere you look. I hope to be as happy in my life as those guys! Today we gazed upon Esperanza Station (an Argentine research station on the Antarctic penisula), and then headed to Admiralty Bay on King George Island, the largest island in the South Shetland group. There are 2 research stations in Admiralty bay - one American and one Polish. A member of the Polish group came aboard and gave a talk on the realities of life here and what they are studying. Some stay through winter which is brutal in this particular locale (not that it is pleasant anywhere in Antarctica). Winds, summer and winter, often exceed 80mph and can reach as high as 150mph. even at -10 that would be pretty awful never mind -60. Admiralty Bay was once a huge whaling area. It is a deep and long natural fjord and the bottom and "beaches" are littered with whale bones from the peak of the whaling area. Whaling is off limits in this area now and the populations are slowly coming back. We have not had any really great whale sitings yet though we have see the odd dorsal fin and a few blows. Occasionally a bergie bit floats by with a few penguins riding along or a seal sunning itself. The ice is really indescribable - most of you have seen glaciers at one point or another but nothing like this - they stretch endlessly from horizon to horizon and blend seamlessly with the sky and sea and that makes them all the bigger. The bergs that come off the ice shelves are call "tabular" ice bergs and are very squared on all corners. Some of these are miles long and 100s of meters high. We did pass one today that was bigger than our ship which is pretty amazing on its own. Many of these will float for decades around the Southern ocean getting in the way of penguins trying to get to land or tourists trying to get to peguins. Either way, the scale of things is next to impossible to convey. Needless to say - we feel very, very small most of the time. We are taking pictures like crazy and haven't managed to solve to posting problem so I will have to do a bunch when we get home. Some have been complaining unnecessarily about this situation and we assure you that we ARE indeed in the Antarctic and not hiding out in some 5 star hotel in Canada making this all up with a bottle of scotch and a laptop. Well - you just have to take our word on it for now! We are now headed back to the Antarctic penisula and points further South. Thanks to all who comment (except Kelly) and Joslin - we are taking lots of penguin pics for you - have no fear.

Until we meet again -

D&M