As the Akademik Shokalskiy approaches the Antarctic coastline, the landscape changes dramatically. The sea becomes becalmed as it fills with pack ice, which the ship cuts through like a hot knife through butter. We sail up close to our first major iceberg and take an excursion by dinghy on the ice floes to say hello to some of the local wildlife, including crab-eater seals and Adelie penguins
Just 100 miles from the coast of Antarctica, the Akademik Shokalskiy drops anchor so the scientists and other passengerse can take their first excursion onto the ice to see the wildlife up close