Blaiklock Island, Jones Channel and the Gullet

Shraddha

A very busy day indeed. After the spectacular day at Stonnington, I took a long time to sleep, while Mayuresh woke up super early and caught this beautiful view of some islands on our way to Blaiklock Island.

Here are a series of photos he took as dawn approached.

Blaiklock island was packed with ice and so the expedition team settled on zodiac cruising only.

It was also very gusty and so we put on extra layers as we headed out for our outing. We joined the citizen science zodiac to collect some phytoplankton and get water temperature.

Our zodiac had to push through ice and we saw interesting ice formations

We also came across some wildlife

When we got back onboard, we checked our phytoplankton sample and it was teeming with life and absolutely gorgeous.

The rest of the day was ship scenic cruising through Jones Channel and the Gullet.

The Gullet is a narrow strait filled with ice-filled water and surrounded by rugged and dramatic terrain. This is not always traversable by ships. But as the ice had moved out, we got a chance to go through this area. This area was also teeming with wildlife.

The ocean was like glass. It was a surreal feeling of gliding over this still water

If you paid attention you could find wildlife everywhere. Here is a seal on a piece of ice

We came across many orcas all around the ship that it was hard to decide where to look. There was also a humpback whale close by, but with so many orcas here, it got pretty ignored by everyone on the ship.