January 3, 2023

Breakaway Island

Since we stayed in port for an extra 2 days due to the storm in the Drake Passage, the Captain and the crew were able to arrange an unprecedented landing at two different locations on this day. This was their attempt to get us to see as much of Antarctica as possible.

The first stop was at Breakaway Island, a small rocky island off of Wiencke Island. There is a small Gentoo colony that was first discovered and officially reported by the Polaris on Nov. 19, 2022. To get to two locations in one day, the crew was out setting up the landing at 5:30 am. The first Zodiac went out at 6:30 am.

Near the landing site.

This location was very steep so hiking poles were essential. Because of the depth of the snow, the crew had to create snow stairs to get us from the landing spot at water level to the top of the snow. It was a warm day, so the stairs were fragile.

The penguins hung out on the rocks.