They were some wild and crazy guys

We started our day with a landing at Petermann Island. Once again it was snowing, but it's mostly just annoying for photos; otherwise, it is plenty warm, no wind, and the penguins really don't care. There were a lot of gentoo penguins, who were busy courting and building nests. I pointed out to Kim one couple, who were doing some weird flapping, gyrating thing. I made some comments about this "strange" behavior. Kim glanced at the pair and said, "It must be breeding season." I blushed and stopped looking.

We saw a penguin go after another one, who was trying to steal nesting material. The penguins build a stone nest with hundreds of tiny pebbles. Some of the birds try to take rocks from the nests of others but when they get caught, the feathers fly. There is much squawking, fin flapping, and beak chomping. Then there are the honest, clean living birds, who don't steal. We watched one fellow haul a golf ball size rock, in his mouth, from shore all the up a hill to his awaiting partner. It's quite a process to watch.

On the island, we saw adelie penguins for the first time. They are smaller than the gentoo. The ornithologist on the ship said their numbers are declining in this area. But don't fret, the last census saw their numbers grow significantly worldwide. By this time of the spring, they are already sitting on their eggs, much farther ahead of the gentoos. The adelie had some elaborate, cliff-side stone nests, where they roosted and watched the more frenzied gentoo.

We took a hike to the other side of the island and were shocked at the view; the ocean was completely covered with sea ice, pocked with enormous icebergs. It is strange to see the ocean frozen over. Near the bay, it was free from sea ice, and the visibility was stunning. I could see straight down to the rocky bottom, as if looking through glass.

We left Petermann Island for Vernadsky Station. The Station was originally built by the British in 1947 and was occupied continuously until 1996, as Faraday Base. At that time, it was sold to Ukraine for one pound because it was cheaper to give it away than to pay for the dismantling and cleaning. Whilst under British operation, the scientists at Faraday were the first to discover the hole in the ozone layer. The Ukrainian scientists have continued these studies and welcome visitors to their base. We were lucky to be their first visitors since last March. Our ship's crew took several boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables to the scientists, prior to us coming to land. When we arrived, they welcomed us with big smiles. It was an awesome stop! We got to look through the station, then they invited us upstairs, where they have their bar and homemade vodka. We didn't need drinks to enjoy the atmosphere. Lights were flashing and some Ukrainian pop music was pumping out a dance beat. It was surreal-that's the best description I can muster. To the side of the bar was "The Southern Most Souvenir Shop," where we picked up a couple of magnets. We also got to mail some cards with an Antarctica postmark, albeit with Ukrainian stamps.Read more