Day 7- Exploring Marguerite Bay
Thursday 08 January 2026 – written by Marzia
After welcoming back on board the intrepid campers, our journey continued southwards, and at 7 am we were ready on deck to start our surveys. Around us, perfect minke whale habitat, but they still kept eluding us, and we spent the first hours of our day looking at the icebergs floating in front of the massive glaciers in Marguerite Bay. Later in the morning some of us attended the “What’s in the water” activity onboard, to look at the water samples collected yesterday on the “Science boat”. We found many species of diatoms, and even two marine worm larvae.
And while we were concentrated on the very difficult task of taking a photo with the microscope of a water sample on a rocking boat (very challenging!), we got the first text: -Antarctic minke to starboard-! By the time lunchtime came around, our minke whale spotting count was up to two, although being fast and shy whales, there was still no photographic evidence…
In the afternoon we got to land on Stonington Island, where Edith “Jackie” Ronne lived for over a year, becoming the first woman to overwinter in Antarctica. The snow was so deep that the expedition team had to shovel some steps for us!
On this island there were an American and a British abandoned bases. The British base still had the cages for the husky dogs, as their main exploration was done by dog sledges over snow and ice, while the American scientists explored from the skies, as apparently they had planes which could land on the water. There were also the remnants of two tanks nearby, and their profile was in stark contrast with the pristine landscape behind them.
Visiting the American base was quite strange – it was hard to imagine scientists living in this wooden hut during the long, cold polar winter. It definitely made us appreciate the comfort in which we are conducting our current research, even though it sometimes can get chilly on deck!
Since it was quite a small island, it was quick to tour it, so some of us decided to spend the last thirty minutes of our landing slot staring at the glacier by the beach. The island was once connected to it by an ice slide, but now all you can see is a beautiful white and blue wall in front of you. We were hoping to catch some good photos of ice chunks falling in the water, but we were not so lucky.
After a data processing session, we went back outside to face the sea. With 20 minutes to go until the end of the shift (and dinners already on our minds), we had a beautiful sighting – minke whale to port! This time we were ready: phones in hand, videos already rolling, we were finally able to record it as it surfaced again right next to the ship, allowing us to admire its lovely dark- and light-grey coloration. What a perfect and exciting ending to today!!
