Pourquoi Pas Island: Well, today is December 13 - MY BIRTHDAY. The temperature this morning is 28 degrees with a little snow and wind… so a really nice summer day in Antarctica. As we wake up and look out our balcony window, there is a huge mountain with lots of snow, of course, an ice shelf along the shoreline at the base of the mountain, and then lots of ice chunks and icebergs floating in the water between our ship and the shore. This morning is Zodiac cruising around those icebergs, some pure white and others deep blue.
It’s down to base camp on deck 3 again to board the Zodiacs with eight to ten people in each Zodiac. The waves are not too bad, so with the skill of these Zodiac drivers, there is no problem navigating around the icebergs.
We are still far below the Antarctic Circle, tucked in next to Pourquois Pas Island, a mountainous island named after an early expedition ship. In true expedition style, the weather here is ever-changing with wind and waves, snow flurries and sunshine. Dozens and dozens of Snow Petrels flew overhead. As we turned the corner, we get spectacular views of icebergs with all their deep blue color. There are also Weddell Seals, Crabeater Seals, Brown Skuas, and Adelie Penguins—all of whom were taking refuge on the ice and hunkered down away from the wind.
This afternoon we cruise out of the bay and head north.