Half Moon island Polar Plunge

The Half Moon island landing was chilly and we were glad for our layers. Here we saw a large colony of chinstrap penguins with their iconic black stripe similar to the Buckingham palace guards. These penguins were very noisy, all chattering at once, and they sound quite different than Gentoo penguins.
This island has some rock columns on the crest of the hill reminiscent of Stonehenge. Just past those stones, a large seal lumbered up onto shore where he took an inordinate amount of time scratching all over with his rear fins.
We could see a research station on a nearby strip of land. These isolated huts must be quite lonely in the winter, but there's an attractiveness to the solitude.
Some people were stripping down to their bathing suits on this shore and were plunging into these frigid polar waters. We were definitely not doing that! And then suddenly Doug decided he was going to take a polar plunge!Lue lisää