Still no contact as yet between our ship Esperanza and the Japanese whaling fleet as the Espy heads further and further south on her mission to save as many minkes as possible from the whalers' harpoons. She's passing through some of the most glorious and unpolluted seascapes this world has to offer at the moment, though, and our photographers have been out and about in inflatables to capture the magic, so I thought I'd share a few with you.
Wow factor: In this shot it's hard not to be impressed by the sheer size of this ice cliff rising almost verically out of the sea.
Here, a humpback (could it be Mr Splashy Pants, I wonder?) expresses it's joy at the fact that its species is once again off the whalers' hit list - for now at least.
Meanwhile, in Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner-ish style, the odd albatross has been spotted flying overhead.
Wildlife en masse is a rarity in the Antarctic, except for large breeding colonies of birds. These were at such a distance that even our resident experts were reluctant to make a positive ID. Best guess? Petrels or skuas.
And finally... confirmation (as if any were needed) that nine-tenths of an iceberg really does lie beneath the water line! Beautiful colours going on in the water, don't you think?
