12/9/01 0630 hrs.
64 degrees 10 minutes S

56 degrees 35 minutes W

-0.3 C, -13 C wind chill

Clear skies and sunshine

We passed through the Bransfield Strait during the day on Saturday and when I came on duty at midnight we were passing through the Antarctic Sound at the tip of the Palmer Peninsula. A beautiful sunset occurred at midnight followed by a spectacular sunrise over pancake ice covered water at 2:30 am.

Currently, we are at anchor off the northeast tip of Seymour Island.  Plans call for a zodiac inflatable boat to make an initial landing attempt around 8:30 this morning. A large amount of pack ice separates the shoreline from the open water so getting to shore should prove interesting. The water is quite shallow a long ways out from the island so the ship cannot move in and clear the ice. We may have to wait for a wind change to see if the wind will clear the ice from the bay. The Seymour Island researchers are happy that there is no snow on the island. This will make their search for fossils much easier.

More on the Seymour Island research later.

Cheers,

Dave