In the evening of day 12 we reached our destination, Paulet Island, in good time and so we ventured out for our first Antarctic zodiac ride. This will always hold a particularly special place in our memory, as it was the first time we launched our zodiacs into Antarctic waters for 2 hours in the evening. In the beautiful evening light, we were in awe of this pristine landscape, with amazing wildlife scattered amongst the ice, including our first close-up sighting of a leopard seal.For those who know the Shackleton story, Paulet Island was the point Shackleton tried to reach in the Endurance after giving up on reaching the South Pole. However the ship was caught in ice flows and they could only watch as they saw the Island pass in the distance, unattainable, before the Endurance was crushed under the immense pressure of the encroaching pack ice – the start point for the remarkable story. Paulet Island gave us our first close up views of Adelie Penguins, the awesome Leopard Seal, with its distinctive, predatory face, and the Weddell Seal and Crabeater Seal, which in common with penguins and krill, form part of the Leopard Seal diet.
