Naturalist Russ Manning teaches the Young Explorers the art of knot tying!

Ready, aim, shoot! Passengers and staff try to capture in photos the beauty of the seabirds following the ship.

The sixth deck Observation Lounge is a popular place to visit with fellow guests!

Geologist Juan Restrepo illuminates how the ice shelves of Antarctica were formed by using a clay and flour demonstration during his presentation on ice for the kids.

A guest checks our location on the nautical chart that is updated daily.

"There was no doubt that we were now in Antarctica as guests had their first look at a magnificent tabular iceberg this afternoon!"

At sea En route for the Antarctic Peninsula

12/28/2010

 We are pleased to report that the seas remain pretty calm and Le Boreal is making good speed towards the Antarctic Peninsula and our next landing tomorrow. Much still depends on favourable weather and ice situation but it looks as if the good conditions we enjoyed at South Georgia are following us.  

Meanwhile lectures have continued with Charley's talk entitled 'Cold, Green and Deep: the Dynamcis of the Southern Ocean'. Charley introduced us to the biology and ecology of these fertile waters and gave us a greater understanding of the amazing creatures found in the depths. He was followed by Patri talking about 'Penguins: An introduction to their life history'. This presentation will help us understand what the penguins are doing when we meet them ashore and explain why they are doing it. Finally, Bob gave his personal view of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration in 'My Favourite Heroes'. He showed that the expeditions of Scott, Shackleton and other leaders were heroic because they struggling to explore the harshest environment in the world with inadequate equipment.  

The day was notable for the appearance of icebergs as we neared Antarctic Sound, known as 'Iceberg Alley'. The first was sighted in the afternoon and the Captain's prize went to Mark Chase. Soon after, the captain took Le Boreal close to a large, flat-topped tabular iceberg. Its area, taken from the radar screen, was estimated as 1200m by 500m. Its height above sea level was 75m which means that 500m were below the surface, Quick calculations on the bridge gave its volume as 180 million cubic metres and its weight as 162 million tonnes. Such figures are hard to comprehend; suffice to say that it was huge and the seabirds – cape petrels, southern fulmars and snow petrels – feeding around it were dwarfed. Soon there were icebergs to be seen in all directions and it was worth coming out to gaze upon them in the soft evening light.