The first excursion of the day was a landing on the strangley named Useful Island. Our guides speculated that the name was derived from the fact that the summit of this island provided whalers of a previous era a good vantage point from which to watch for whales. On shore we saw a number of nesting colonies of Gentoo Penguins, though we could smell them long before we could see them. As you will notice from the photos, the penguins nest on rock outcroppings. Their nests are made of small stones which they collect one by one. All of this to keep the eggs dry. The pink coloration on those rock outcroppings is penguin dung or guano.

After lunch another island landing, this time Cuverville Island, and more nesting penguins. Notice the white marking on the head of the penguins in the last photo in the group above, this is one of the distinguishing markers of the Gentoo Penguin. Whereas note that in the 3rd photo above the penguin has a thin black line going under its chin; this is a Chin Strap penguin.

The weather improved as the afternoon wore on so after leaving the Island the Zodiacs did a bit of a tour amongst the ice. The third photo below is the guide clearing an ice lump from under the outboard motor.

The final photo in the group below is Nina returning to the ship in one of the Zodiacss.

By dinner time the weather was almost warn with bright sun providing the perfect atmosphere for the BBQ dinner the crew had planned.