We are near ( ish ) the South Orkneys and have only been through relatively thin and broken up sea ice so far , although we might encounter some thicker stuff later on in the cruise , in the Weddell Sea . This ship has a couple of tricks up her sleeve , which sound awesome , but I have not experienced : backing up and ramming at high speed ; and pumping water inside the hull from one side of the ship to the other to create an artificial rolling motion to literally wriggle through thicker ice . However the Captain prefers to steer at a slower pace and pick paths through thinner ice and gaps where possible to avoid unnecessarily stressing the ship , which I suppose is sensible .
The sea ice here is teeming with life . Every time we stop to collect samples , hordes of small penguins seem to materialise and alternate between looking magnificent swimming and leaping over the water and comical hopping around on land . Today we also saw a couple of seals , swimming and sunbathing on the ice , and there are still a few birds following us in the air . Here ’ s hoping for more whales soon !
A seal working on its sun tan @ Matthew Humphreys
News update – white birds as Matthew has explained we spent much of today either pushing through ice or sailing between drifting ice . The change of environment has lead to changes in the bird population with most noticably Snow Petrels appearing and glamorously posing for us .
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