Oddly enough waking up amongst the glaciers remains special and this day was no exception. Today the plan was to have a zodiac cruise through the Lemaire channel and visit Palmer Research Station, one of the few research stations that operate year round, after.
The Lemaire channel, a natural 1600 m (at its narrowest point) wide channel between the Graham Land (peninsula) and Booth Island, was breathtaking. With the exception of some whales and seals the focus of this cruise were the massive walls of ice and rock surrounding us. This was without a doubt the most impressive landscape witnessed of the trip.
Palmer belongs to America which is likely why they only allow 10 boats a year to drop by and see what kind of research they do. It sounded so interesting, but it just turned out to be more of a sales pitch stating how cool America is. Once on the island they brought us directly to their ‘shop’ and after that they gave us brownies. Nice and all, but I would’ve liked to see some actual research they were conducting (like why the Antarctic icefish doesn’t use hemoglobin to transport oxygen). I also found it weird that they don’t use renewables to power their station. In the summer there should be enough light to power it, however they solely use crude oil. Quite odd when they try to claim they ‘work on issues of importance for the Earth’s ecosystem’
Luckily we quickly went to Torgersen Island where we finally met the Adelie penguins (the last of the brush-tailed penguin species after the Gentoos and Chinstraps). It was a small island, but the Adelies were nice and the leopard seal on our way to the island as well.
Palmer station oil tank. The Orca makes it almost look innocent. 
Leopard seal at Palmer Station. 
Adelie Penguin at Torgersen Island 
Entrance to the Lemaire Channel. 
Graham Land. 
