Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Helen Keller
6:30am. Over the intercom in our rooms, Brandon, our expedition leader's rich deep voice woke us with a "Good Morning. Good morning. It is 6:30. We are in the Shetland Islands. Our plan is to go ashore this morning at Half Moon Island. Good Morning." Breakfast at 7:00am and dressed ready to go ashore by 8:00am. There are approximately 3,300 breeding pairs of chinstrap penguins on the island (it smells like it as you approach the landing site). There are also Antarctic terns, skuas (These are the blue jays of the Antarctic. They live off the eggs and chicks of penguins.) , kelp gulls, Wilson's storm-petrels, and blue-eyed shags. Back to ship for lunch. Did I tell you how delicious the meals were? The first part of the afternoon was spent on the Bridge watching our skillful ship's captain and crew navigate through Neptune's Bellows into Deception Island. This island is the remains of an implosion of a volcano. The island is in a "C" shape. The volcano is still active. Had the weather been calmer we would have been able to swim in an antarctic hot spring. As it was, the weather was treacherous. There were 7-8 force winds which I am told are gale force. The ship had a permanent lean to the starboard side. After supper we were treated to the movie "Blood Diamond"
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