I can hardly put into words the beauty of my first Antarctic sighting. We got a chance to do a zodiac cruise to Elephant Island today and it was spectacular. I loved every single minute of it. The ice was absolutely breathtaking; glaciers and icebergs swarmed the island. The weather was gorgeous and the sun was shining brightly. Weather like this is nearly unseen on Elephant Island. We have some very good karma, that's for sure. On the last stretch of the Drake Passage earlier today, we got a chance to see penguins diving in the water near the ship. Within a few moments of that sighting we saw huge Fin Whales all over the place. These are the second largest whales next only to the great Blue Whale. They are usually about 80 feet long; a spectacular animal. Once we reached Elephant Island we anchored the ship and headed out for our zodiac cruise. I was completely blown away by the ice and the mountains. I have never seen something so spectacular in all my days. What an incredible sight. And what a way to start the New Year. I would've never guessed a year ago that I would spend New Years in Antarctica. Last night we had a little celebration that consisted of entertainment from our "pod" team groups. It was a lot of fun! We also got to dance on the top deck of the ship outside while listening to live music from Remy and Janet. With all of these wonderful things going on around me, I know that I am going to have a wonderful year. Happy New Year to everyone back home. I hope you have enough snow to do some snowmobiling. I was thinking of you when I saw these massive gems of nature that we call icebergs. The food is great, the people are fantastic and Antarctica is brilliant. What more could a person ask for New Years!

- Jenna Gall, Participant

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What an exciting day we've had!  Who would believe that we would be so lucky to have such an amazing first day in the Antarctic?  We passed the Antarctic Convergence around 8:30 this morning and left the Drake Passage later in the day.  We were so lucky (at least for most of us) to get across the channel with lovely conditions, very few seasick folks, so that was a great thing.  After lunch the words we were waiting for...the first iceberg followed immediately by the first land sighting.  Elephant Island (of Shackleton fame) was dead ahead!  With that excitement, many of us were already on the decks when the first sighting of whales occurred.  We saw a variety of fin and humpback whales as well as a large number of penguins over the next few hours. 

We were so fortunate to be able to take our first zodiac ride of the trip.  We had a fantastic tour around Point Wild, on Elephant Island, getting close to millions of chinstrap penguins, a fur seal and Weddell seal and some incredibly beautiful icebergs.  We were all so impressed with the amazing variety of ice, the absolutely gorgeous colour of the ice and even the water that had iceberg below it.  Only nature could make such incredibly colours.  Greens, blues, creamy whites!  Truly a sight to behold!  And we all got that opportunity today in Antarctica!!!!  We'll all have such wonderful dreams tonight, if we can get to sleep, that is!

Can't wait for more discoveries tomorrow.  I'll have to remember to talk about the glaciers that we are seeing...

Night, everyone!  Miss you all!

- Marion Woodman, Chaperone

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Puis, vers 13 h 30, nous apercevons notre premier iceberg. Fantastique! Ils sont si immenses! Plusieurs dépassent largement la taille de ma maison. Nous continuons notre périple jusqu'à la première île: Elefant Island. Mentionnée dans l'histoire de David Fletcher à propos de David Shackleton et son passage sur l'île, c'est à notre tour d'aller la découvrir. Pendant que j'écris ces lignes, nous longeons la berge de l'île parmi plusieurs baleines à bosse qui nous souhaitent la bienvenue. Un peu plus tôt dans la soirée, nous avons sorti pour la première fois en zodiac, histoire de rendre visite à nos hôtes de l'île, les manchots Chinstrap, qui ne nous attendaient non par dizaines ni par centaines, mais par milliers. Nous naviguâmes sur une eau parsemée de morceaux de glace pour la capture photographique, visuelle et mémorable de cette colonie de petits curieux. Certains allaient même jusqu'à s'aventurer, à la nage, près de nos zodiacs, en sautant et replongeant dans l'eau comme des dauphins. Nous nous préparons demain pour notre premier pas probable sur le continent, un moment que nous attendons avec impatience.

- Vincent Carrier, Participant

Last night we experienced a New Year's Eve that none of us will ever forget!!  It started with a Ceilidh, led by Jim, our in-house Scotsman!   Each "pod" made a presentation which ranged from an Antarctica Jeopardy game to songs about seasickness.  Then it was up to the bridge where we all held hands and formed an extremely long line of happy revelers zipping train-style along the bridge to the tune of whatever Remy and Janet were playing on guitar and clarinet.  Soon afterwards we found ourselves in the lounge, sipping juice in wine glasses and wishing each other the best for the New Year.  In true style, the Old Year (aka Olle) was booted out and a huge, hairy-chested, diapered New Year's baby with a big grin on his face was welcomed in (aka our fearless leader Geoff).  No one among us will ever forget our New Year's Eve on the Drake's Passage!!

I'm sure there will be lots of blogging on today's incredible adventure so I won't mention how excited we all were to take a spin on the zodiac boats for a closer look at Elephant's Island, oodles of penguins, seals, and absolutely gorgeous icebergs with unique patterns...even styrofoam-looking ones! 

There are nothing buy happy faces aboard our ship and everyone is so content. Life is good in Antarctica! 

- Maggie Hoagland, Chaperone

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Today was the best first day of the year that I have ever had because I'm in the most pure place on earth, with the most amazing landscapes and the most beautiful species!

Today we finished the Drake Passage and arrived officially to Antarctica. I survived to the Drake Passage without getting sick! It's a great victory and the weather conditions were excellent.

We stopped at Elephant Island and went out in the Zodiacs to see some icebergs, landscapes and sea birds, including big groups of Chinstrap Penguins. During our Elephant Island outing some Fin Whales and Humpback Whales appeared, and some Chinstrap Pinguins jumped out of the water. It was so wonderful and everybody had an excellent time taking pictures and moving from one side of the ship to the other side of the ship trying to get good pictures.

We are heading to the Antarctica Peninsula now, with the hope of seeing the biggest icebergs of this area and more and more penguins and whales.

I'm hoping to see lots of Orcas because they are such intelligent whales with excellent hunting instincts and because they don't pass near Azores.

All the best and "Beijos e Abracos para aqueles que me seguem em Portugal"...

- Pedro Meneses, Participant

Hi all! I am no longer sea sick, I have abandoned all of my maladies in search of bigger and better things. I'm currently in Antarctica. I had my first ride on the zodiacs and it was amazing. Stellar news, my camera is finally working again after being camera-less for 4 days. Marion charged my battery. It turns out the hotel ruined my charger and so my battery wouldn't charge. I even bought a battery in Argentina that I'm going to have to return because it won’t even charge in Marion's charger. We passed the Antarctic convergence this morning at 12:45, and spotted our first ice bergs at about 1:45 pm today. It feels absolutely surreal to be on this trip. The landscape is amazingly beautiful. I even took pictures of the oh so lovely penguins. The chinstraps though are soooooo cute. I must say, they have an extremely distinct smell. They smell like a mixture of dry blood and dead fish if that makes any sense. The food wasn't all that great, I was kind of disappointed. The one day I began to feel a tiny bit better, I can't eat the food. It's a good thing I skipped breakfast, I definitely needed the energy for all of today's activities. Yesterday was amazing though. My pod group performed the "I Like Big Butts" song for the New Years Eve festivities. The lyrics were really wacky. One line was "I like big Penguins and I cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny that when a Penguin waddles in with an itty bitty beak you get Happy!" Later on we went to ship's roof where Remy(Guitar) and Janet (Clarinet) played live music and we all danced around. What a way to start off the year. We even spotted some Albatrosses, Seals, Penguins, Petrels, and Whales. One of the whales even hit the side of the ship, it looked like it was trying to kiss the ship. All I heard was a loud "thack!" Today has been a mind altering day and I can't wait to go about on this nutty journey. Also, Geoff told my table today at lunch that there is an Antarctic gift shop? I can't imagine what they would sell there but it's just an exciting notion you know? Geoff said they sell just about any and everything there but I'm not so sure I believe his claim. I'm sure they don't sell plasma t.v.'s How neat is this, the sun is setting right now and its 10:42 pm Argentine time (9:42 pm states time), the icebergs and the moon are red and it's curfew time. I've got to go shower and catch a glimpse of this once in a lifetime scenery.

- Petra Ovalles, Participant

I survived the Drake Passage! Fortunately everyone made it alive and there was no severe sea sickness on board! This morning we finally arrived! We're in Antarctica now and our first stop was Elephant Island. Going back to New Years Eve... yesterday we celebrated New Years on the Drake Passage! It was a once in a life time experience.  I was celebrating New Years in Antarctica! All students are separated into "pod groups" so every pod group had a contribution to our new year’s celebration! Some sang songs, others rapped about penguins, and others had games. It was fun but the party didn't begin until we went up on the bow, the front of the boat, and we started dancing and making a circle. It was so much fun! We were all holding hands and running all over the boat while  Remy and Janet played their instruments. Then we welcomed the new year, had some OJ (orange juice), and danced for a few minutes. It was an incredible way to celebrate new year’s, on a ship!

This morning things started to get chilly. We were officially in Antarctica, we just hadn't spotted an iceberg yet. We finally did later in the morning, it was amazing! I couldn't believe my eyes! Then we stopped at Elephant Island and explored it on zodiac boats. It was just magnificent and I was upset because I realized that pictures cannot capture the true beauty of these beautiful icebergs! I finally got to see some pinguinos! I touched Antarctic ice, I licked a piece of ice from the water, and I saw some beautiful humpback whales! They were right in my face! It was amazing! My first day in Antarctica was amazing! And we still haven't gotten to the landing part where we actually get to walk in Antarctica! Oh! there's a red sunset out! I have to go take a picture of this!

- Sandra Lobato , Participant

I'm so happy to report that the first day of 2010 has been so unbelievably amazing! Starting with our first voyage on the zodiac boats in near perfect weather, we got to see the penguins and a lot of other interesting bird species. We came near Point Wild, where we saw the memorial statue of Shackleton's voyage...still intact and looking very natural amongst the chinstrap penguin population. We also had the most amazing opportunities to see different whale species down at the bow of the ship! We saw up close the eye of the humpback whale as two of them breached at the water's surface, beyond amazing. Everyone on board was so excited and much of our afternoon was spent hanging outside viewing the ocean. Icebergs floated past us as we got going later on today, after we passed the Antarctic 60 degree line at about 8:30 this morning. The views all day have been absolutely amazing and it has been our most eventful day so far, and I feel a lot of us are getting to be so close. Definitely an amazing way to start off the year, I'm not sure if this day can be topped.

Almost no one is sea sick anymore and the seas have been extraordinarily calm. Geoff says that he doubts the conditions will stay on this way and that if they miraculously do, that he will eat his socks, hahaha. By the way, so not sure about how I'm supposed to wash my clothes on board, but it's starting to get to that point where we're all wearing the same thing every day and no one cares anymore. In hanging out, we share our different pictures that we took in our whale/penguin sightings and we spend a lot of time learning to sing songs and using watercolors and pastels in artwork. Also, I have about a 6 person waiting list for who is to get a hand knitted head band from me, and that is keeping me a bit busy during the days as well.

Back to the expedition specifically, the conditions have led us all to believe that there are fundamental changes happening to the environment for there to be such strange behaviour in the waters and warm temperature the past few days. Krill activity was also apparently really high, which is why whale activity was also happening a lot today.

We will see about all of this, and hopefully we get to see the peninsula of Antarctica tomorrow!

- Victoria Hoffman, Participant

Celebrating New Years on the Drake Passage? Surprisingly, a great way to start the year! The Drake Passage was, fortunately for some, the "Drake Lake" rather than the "Drake Shake". While several students were seasick, I was unaffected and a little disappointed that the waves were so tame. Having tame waves, however, allowed us to celebrate New Year’s Eve to the fullest. Each pod group was given an opportunity to present a skit, song, game, etc, that was created during pod meetings. My group, the Podguins, chose to act out the Times Square ball drop by using an orange covered in masking tape and we sang our own written lyrics to the song, 'Auld Lang Syne'. One pod made a jeopardy game with various facts we had learned and my pod, the Podguins, won! Since the Drake allowed, after each pod had presented, we put our jackets on and went onto the upper deck and all held hands and danced around and sang to music. When we went back inside, we had apple and orange juice and celebrated the New Year. After everyone had to go to bed for curfew, Jenna, Sarah, and I all had to stay up and work on the Icecap, a two page newspaper written every day. My job during the day was to write up a summary of each workshop conducted during the day (art, music, photography, mapping, bird watching, and journaling), and write a weather report. Our task for the night was to type our articles into the correct format in order for the Icecap to be ready in the morning. When I was finally able to go to bed, I was so excited about getting to Elephant Island in the morning.

When I woke up today, the Drake was still very calm. Although everything thus far has been absolutely amazing, two highlights of my trip occurred today. First, seeing the characteristics everyone associates with Antarctica was amazing! Seeing whales, penguins, and icebergs firsthand is a moment that I will never be able to forget. The color and size of the icebergs was phenomenal, the size of the whales was wondrous, and the personality of the penguins was playful! Everything here is just amazing, and while pictures are a good representation, when I saw them for myself, it was more meaningful and embodying of the Antarctic. The second highlight was the Zodiac cruise around Elephant Island, which we were only able to do because of our great luck with the weather. I was in the first group of Zodiacs to go out onto the water and being on the water so far south, in a little rubber motor powered boat, surrounded by icebergs and penguins is an experience unique to anything I had ever done in my life. Even though we just arrived to Antarctica, I have already learned so much, experienced many new things, and had the time of my life. I can't wait to see what more unfolds in the days to come!

- Sherene Iskander, Participant

Happy New Year to everyone once again. This year for me has been one of the most unforgettable of all the ones I have had. This year, instead of being with my loved ones, I was on a ship in the middle of the ocean with several unique individuals. Going on the deck in the ship, and being able to see the ocean left me speechless. There were no words that could describe how awesome and amazing it was. This made me reflect on many things, and made me think of my New Year’s Resolution. For the year 2010, I will allow the good karma to come in, and think positive. In this expedition everything has been well and has brought a confident feeling to me. For this new year I hope for a better unity of the family, best of love and friendships.

Today starting of the first day of the year, we visited Elephant Island. This island was amazing and I was able to touch and lick the ice; also see penguins which made my day. We hopped into the zodiacs, which are little mechanical boats that took a group of 8 students to see Penguins and Icebergs. We all spotted over 100 penguins and it was mating season. Even though they smelled horrible they were the cutest living things. As we travelled in the zodiacs we saw small pieces of ice floating which were once, part of a enormous Iceberg. This definitely made my day, since I have never ever in my life have been in a zodiacs and never seen penguins so close up.

P.S - Hey Mommy and Daddy, and Telly, and Jenny, Lili & Poisson  I miss you all. Informing all that I am fine and very blissful in my new location.

- Estefani Chimbo, Participant

Today was a day of many firsts.  Aside from being the first day of the year, today was our  first official day in Antarctica.  We made our first zodiac expedition, saw our first iceberg, and our first whales.  Today is officially the best day of the year.  Many people have probably blogged about the beauty of Antarctica, but I would like to touch on the peace of this continent.  Many of the students were on the bow of the boat sighting all the wildlife they could.  So I ventured to the back of the boat up on the top deck.  I reached my destination and saw a student named Trevor standing on his head, meditating.  He looked peaceful, he looked in place, he looked like he knew who he was and had everything figured out.  He had everything I wanted.  I approached where he was and did my best to imitate him, standing on my head, sailing in Antarctica.  I cannot tell you if I felt as he did, but I was completely satisfied.  Undoubtedly, that was the highlight of my day.  The sun began to set behind us and even others enjoyed watching what we were doing.  I hope to experience this throughout the trip.  Best wishes, Happy New Years, Stay Warm, I love you Mom and Dad!

- LeAnna Talarico, Participant

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My first day seeing Antarctica and the first day of 2010!!! Two days ago when we left Ushuaia, I boarded a ship for the first time and shortly thereafter had my first bout of seasickness. Sailing out of the harbor with civilization at our backs and only the horizon before us, I really didn't know what to expect. Theoretically I knew where we were going, but I was having a very hard time understanding what we were supposed to find there. I'd heard a lot of rhetoric about how this experience would change our lives, how we would never forget it, etc. and I ate it up, word for word, but internally I doubted whether I would be able to feel whatever it was we were expected to feel. I had mixed feelings, simultaneously exhilarated by the sea air and frightened of traveling still further from the familiar into the unknown. Despite the faces milling around me, I felt alone. As usual, my mood was greatly improved by a delicious meal, courtesy of the staff of the Ushuaia (the name of our ship, confusing, I know). After getting to know my roommate a little (Laura, a freshman dramatic writing major at the Tisch School of NYU) and with a belly full of ginger chicken, I drifted off to sleep in my impossibly small cabin, praying I wouldn't find myself woken by my own projectile vomiting. Falling asleep was actually a very relaxing experience, comparable to being cradled by a cosmic baby rocker.

We witnessed our first iceberg and came across a pod of fin whales and steadily increasing numbers of frolicking chinstrap penguins all within the space of a few minutes. An hour or so later, wearing approximately forty three layers of synthetic fabrics and woolen grandpa sweaters, I boarded a Zodiac to begin exploring the glaciers and icebergs clustered together at the northernst tip of Antarctica. The sun was shining and the sea was calm, the nicest weather Geoff said he had ever seen in the area. I took picture after picture, pausing only to take in the full effect of mountains of ice rising recklessly into the clouds, penguins sliding and jumping across slippery rock (undeniably cute, whatever they say about viewing them as biological, not as aesthetically satisfying). I couldn't tell exactly what I felt, aside from unadulterated joy. I had a difficult time collecting my thoughts even back on the ship as I attempted to write something meaningful in my little red moleskin. I'd assumed I would feel something along the lines of an insatiable urge to protect such a magical place, to conserve its beauty. Of course, I was conscious of the importance of both of these, but my instinct was more that Antarctica was, as a terrain, indifferent to human attempts to intercede on its behalf. It was really not for humans at all. Suddenly it made perfect sense why supranational organizations had designated it neutral territory. It clearly belonged to no one. Its beauty was not meant for pleasure, for comfort, like that of a trickling stream or a grassy meadow. It was unearthly, incomprehensible more than anything made me feel my own insignificance in the scheme of things. The glaciers were there long before human beings, and against all odds, I can't imagine that they won't remain long after we're gone. I think it will be a long time before I'll be able to articulate what all this meant to me, or if I will ever be able to properly explain the impact of this experience, but I am now sure that there is a change taking place, whatever shape it takes.

- Mary Clare O’Donnell, Participant

We are already in Antarctica and this is so AMAZING!! I love this place!  The simplicity of the nature here makes this one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen until this moment...

When we took the Zodiac cruise, we saw the rocks and the ice between the sea and the sky is so beautiful!! The weather is so nice although it was cold when we were seeing the whales and the penguins that came to us. They swam around us for a very long time. The penguins are so small but so funny; during the day we saw a lot of them swimming in the cold Antarctica sea.

I think this is the best First day of January that I have ever lived, although my family and my friends are so far away. I hope they are well and when I come to Portugal I would like to tell them all about this trip and give my pictures to all of them. Although I cannot explain what I'm feeling, this place is so beautiful and I hope that I can try to change some minds. I can maybe help the world by trying to stop the people that pollute and to conserve everything like this amazing place. 

I hope that the weather continues like this and that we continue to have such fabulous experiences because I know that the opportunities that Pedro and I are having aren't possible for most of our friends. I think that we need to get the most we can from this experience.

- Viviana Oliveira, Participant

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Well, it's probably been said by many others today, but this is one New Year's Day that no one will forget. Or could forget. Even the seasoned expeditioners with us who have made the Antarctic journey dozens of times have never seen anything quite like this:

>Calm seas and brilliantly clear skies at Elephant Island, Ward Point where Shackelton's crew survived four harrowing months before being rescued... normally in fog and rough seas.

>Zodiac-puttering at the foot of a glacier, in the golden light, amongst the most spectacular of iceberg sculptures and penguin-covered outcrops.

>Sailing south surrounded by spouting fin and humpback whales, racing seabirds, and awestruck and appreciative young people from around the world.

>And, in one momentary crowning appearance, the moon rising orange and full to the stern, just to the west of Gibbs Island.

Already it is quite a privilege to be here in this land, but to be greeted by this kind of spectacle is "over the top" (or is it "under the bottom"?). The organizers of Students on Ice do an incredible job of providing high-quality learning activities for the youth participants...but how the heck did they arrange this superlative Antarctic experience ?

- Remy Rodden, Educator

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Wow! If today was any indication of what this year will be, it is going to be an amazing year! This afternoon we first spotted the continent and everywhere you went you could feel the excitement building!! Antarctica is incredible! The ice is such a pretty blue and the water is a shade of blue that is nearly indescribable! Snowcapped mountains leave you speechless. We were able to do a zodiac cruise around Elephant Island in the late afternoon. The weather was very calm which was very unique for this area (which was great for loading the zodiacs). Penguins and seals were some of the animals hanging out all over the ice. I have never seen so many penguins, they are loud and smell weird. After the cruise we left the island and started moving to our next location. Whales came up to our ship and we were able to get some great photographs. There were humpback and fin whales circling the ship, the humpback whales were sooo close to the ship. So close in fact that if I fell out of the ship (which I would never do mom, because I'm not getting close to the edge.... I would hit them. I can't wait to see what the future of our expedition holds!

- Sarah Bitler, Participant

The first day of the new decade is the best day so far.  We reached Antarctica waters and got to go out on the zodiacs around Elephant Island.  Right after breakfast we had a presentation on sea ice.  It was about how it forms, what it looks like, where it is, and the different types.  I had learned that the sea ice starts to form from underneath the water and melts that way as opposed to the ice on land which is formed by packing on layers.  Throughout the day we had time to go out on deck and get some fresh air.  We even had fun spotting whales.  They were absolutely magnificent.  As a first experience on seeing whales, it was just an amazing.  Also, while on our way to Elephant Island, we saw many penguins jumping in and out of the water on a few icebergs.  Today was also the first spotting of icebergs. 

The other presentation that we had today, which was right before lunch and the spotting, was on Otto, a Swedish explorer.  We learned about his journey and about how his crew had been on three separate islands and managed to survive and find each other in the end.  After lunch, we had a briefing on safety and how to preserve Antarctica.  We had to have that because we were going to have a chance to get out on the zodiacs and needed the safety briefing before we could go out.  Once we got out on the zodiacs, the views were like nothing I've ever seen.  We got fairly close to the tons of penguins that were on every rock and surface that we saw.  We even saw two different types of seals that where laying on the rocks.  When I was out on the zodiacs, I felt so free and open.  It was great to have the fresh air and to be able to get off the ship and get closer to the wildlife.  Although we could not get on the land, we still could see everything much better and made a vision become a reality.  Getting to see everything that I've seen in pictures in person has really made this dream real and has made everything to come more exciting and keeps me interested in seeing what else this continent has to offer and to show.  I am looking forward to the rest of the trip and even though I miss my family and want to be home, I don't want this wonderful journey to end.

- Liz DiCesare, Participant

This morning we crossed the 60 degree latitude south, so we are now "officially" in Antarctica, since we have also crossed the Drake Passage. There was a sense of excitement early this morning, since we had been informed that we would reach Elephant Island today.

We had our first zodiac cruising today, which was definitely the highlight of my day. Before that though, we had to have a briefing about zodiac safety so that we would all be safe and prepared for what would happen on the zodiacs. Putting on the proper clothes for the zodiac cruising was definitely not fun. I had to put on so many layers of clothes so I wouldn't be cold outside, but in my room I was at the point of sweating. I was really apprehensive for the cruising, I did not exactly know how they would work, and I was scared of getting on the zodiac, but I was really excited to be near the penguins and the icebergs and everything around Point Wild where we were.

There were 8 people on the zodiac, and all of us were really excited about everything around us, constantly clicking away our cameras and voicing our excitement. We passed by around three or four rookeries of Chinstrap penguins. I was definitely surprised to see so many penguins around me, and I also found that penguins were really loud and active. I saw penguins jumping out of the water and onto the rocks, and when one started flapping their wings, others followed.

We also saw two seals, one fur seal and one Weddell seal. They seriously looked like rocks from far away, and it was hard to distinguish between the two unless we were probably around 10 meters away from where they were. One seal even lifted its head when the zodiac went past. Not only did the animals amaze me, but the ice amazed me as well. The different shades of blue, the streaks in the ice, and how the seawater has weathered the ice all left me speechless. All icebergs were of different sizes and shapes, and some of them even had icicles, which is caused by the melting of the iceberg and the refreezing, due to the ice cold weather. Since I was so caught up in taking pictures, I didn't notice how cold my hands were, until I paused for a moment to take my surroundings in, and just rushed to get my gloves on. However, even though my hands were freezing, I just couldn't stop taking pictures to show my friends and family when I got back. Needless to say, my first Zodiac experience was definitely an excellent one and I can't wait for more of them to come.

The day just kept getting better and better; I'm sure that the "karma" is working! Tonight after dinner, we spotted fin whales and humpback whales from the ship, and everyone rushed to the bow to get pictures and capture the moment. The humpback whales came so close to our ship that I was able to see the barnacles on their backs, which was amazing. I don't think words could describe the emotion that I was feeling. Overall, today was definitely an amazing day, the sea conditions haven't been too bad, which apparently is rare around Elephant Island where we were, maybe it was because it's 2010, or maybe it’s just all the karma.

- Jade Lu, Participant