About 6 AM this morning we were able to enter the Lemaire Channel on the Antarctic Peninsula itself. The channel is always clogged with ice flows and medium-sized icebergs. The ship has to send out a helicopter ahead to scout the way to see if it is safe for us to make the seven mile length. So far the ice is not that thick. The term 'icebreaker' really comes into effect as the ship crushes the ice flows ahead of us. On many of the ice flows to our side there are crabeater seals, both adults and pups. The crabeater seal is estimated to be the most numerous seal at about 15 to 20 million individuals. The name 'crabeater' is a misnomer in that they eat krill, not crabs. The ice cliffs and glaciers on the sides of the channel are immense. Some rising 20 times the height of the ship. Many of the glaciers show evidence of calving where huge ice chunks fall off and become icebergs. As we approach an area of discolored ice I notice a small colony of adelie penguins. This is an area where it is too rough to land so we continue of our journey.

12:30 Port Lockroy
As we approach the original British settlement on Antarctica I am amazed to see a number of gentoo penguins frolicking beside the ship. As we land at Port Lockroy I have realized a dream to set foot on the Antarctic Continent! Port Lockroy was established in 1943 and has been manned ever since. Most of the original research was done on the ionosphere. These days it serves as a post office. Due to the continuous habitation of humans, the gentoo penguins are unfazed with our presence. This has been a very tough year for the penguins due to the late season snows last winter. This kept the birds off of their breeding areas longer that normal resulting in chicks being hatched too late to survive. The estimate for this area is about a 90% loss of chicks compared to last year. This also effects the other birds in the area like skuas and kelp gulls who rely on the chicks as a food source. There is a small white bird that keeps running through the rookery called a snowy sheathbill. This bird tries to steal the regurgitation the penguin moms feed their chicks. The adult penguins are not very pleased with the sheathbills presence. I am also able to view blue-eyed shags in a small rookery, but only from a distance. At Port Lockroy I am able to do my first film shot with Jack Hanna on the trip. Between Jack and I we try and cover as much gentoo penguin information as possible. This has been a truly incredible day and I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.

Rob Yordi