Antarctica - Day 12 of our ultimate bucket list trip. Gentoo Penguins, Damoy Point & Port Lockroy.

Day 12. We woke up to a bit of strong weather this morning adding a little excitement to the day! The wind was about 50 knots, gusting around 80 knots, piercing through four-five meter swell and in the middle of a snowy winter wonderland!
After another delicious breakfast from Hondius’ galley team, our lecture program started off with a presentation about Charcot and his expeditions on the western side of the Antarctica Peninsula.
Jean- Baptiste Charcot, also known as the ‘polar gentleman’, was one of the early explorers of the region we would be exploring today. A heroic achievement from his first expedition included contribution to the geographical mapping of Antarctica by mapping over 1,000 kilometres of coastline. His second expedition from 1908-1910, on the ship Le Pourquoi-Pas, Charcot started in the South Shetland Islands and continued south towards Marguerite Bay and the Lemaire Channel area.
It is very extraordinary that we are currently sailing through and exploring the very place that Charcot explored and mapped in the early 1900s!
The next lecture for the morning provided information about life underwater, species like Antarctic cod, Patagonia toothfish, ice fish, and potentially most exciting would be the sea spiders. It has just been discovered that sea spiders have a unique method for oxygen transport in which they use their legs!
We also heard a few stories about what it is like to scuba dive in Antarctica, how when diving next to an iceberg it changes your buoyancy due to the freshwater concentration increase and the beauty of listening to the icebergs crackle while underwater.
After lunch the weather was finally in our favor and we could push further north to our afternoon location, Damoy Point. We would do a split landing and zodiac cruise with our focus on finding gentoo penguin colonies!
The cruise went to check out Port Lockroy and see the famous Penguin Post Office through the UK Heritage Trust.
On shore, we had a proper leg stretch and explored the freshly covered snowy landing site to see both gentoo penguins and another historical hut. Damoy Hut was established by the British Antarctic Survey in November 1975 with its primary purpose to be a transit station for staff and gear to the further south BAS location of Rothera Research Station.
When Rothera could not be accessed by ship due to sea ice, Damoy was the backup. It was last occupied in 1993 and provides a great example of what it would feel like to overwinter in Antarctica.
After a true Antarctica landing experience, it was time to head back onboard and continue north through the night.
‪@OceanwideExpeditions‬ #gentoo #penguin

[@OceanwideExpeditions]

It's always a pleasure to observe the penguins 😍

[@Samgeets]

Thank you for your support.

[@teresageorge9023]

What an amazing opportunity and experience. A true ' Happy feet🐧🐧 ' experience❤

[@Samgeets]

Thank you.

[@rajdeepsingh7112]

Sir ek penguin hi ley aao

[@Samgeets]

😁 Bro, for you, anything!!!