Antarctica, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil
Antarctica, Lemaire Channel
After leaving Damoy Point, the World Voyager navigated down the Lemaire Channel. This narrow and challenging channel is considered one of the most scenic waterways in Antarctica. It certainly was that (it's not called "Kodak Gap" for nothing!), but it also treated me to a lesson in penguin swimming habits. Let's just say that there's still a lot of bird in these cute aquatic animals.
Here are some photos:
The northern end of the Lemaire Channel is guarded by these twin peaks, officially the "Una Peaks". Twin basaltic columns, they rise well over 2000 feet, with the column on the left reaching a height of 2451 feet. Both are permanently capped with a thick layer of ice.
These mountains are part of Humphries Heights, a series of mountaintops that rise directly from the Lemaire Channel to as high as 3600 feet. They are spectacular and extend nearly to the southern end of the Channel.
While gaping at the snow- and ice-covered beauty of the mountains lining the Lemaire Channel, I kept hearing splashes. I finally looked in the right spot and saw something jumping out of the water—at considerable forward velocity—just to splash back into the water a few feet later. At first I thought they were fish of some sort leaping out of the water, but then I realized, oh my gosh, those are penguins!
Look closely here to notice the rings in the water. Those rings were where a penguin had splashed back down into the water after having nearly splashlessly leapt into the air several feet before. The penguin at the right of this shot at this point had splashed into the water, swam forward, and leapt into the air twice in the previous few seconds. These guys really move!
I grabbed my bigger lens to get a closer look. In this photo, there are two penguins, both Gentoos. The individual on left has just emerged from the water, starting its leap into the air. At the same time, his companion a few feet ahead is splashing back into the water after flying through the air for a few feet after its own leap from the water.
Here I managed to catch one of the Gentoos just after it had leapt from the water. I curiously watched these penguins fly and dive and fly and dive alongside the ship for quite a while as the ship slowly steamed south through the Channel.
Sometimes the southern end of the Lemaire Channel is so choked with ice that ships can't get through. We were lucky—the ice was dense, but we made it through!