We had high hopes of catching at least one more seal today. However, early in the morning, we couldn't find any, so we started up the passage between Adelaide Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. Along the way we saw a great many ice floes with seals on them, but it wasn't a safe place to operate, so we had to just watch them sail past. The pass was alive with animals -- minke whales, Adelie penguins, fur seals, leopard seals, crabeater seals and a pod of killer whales!!!

Once we got north of the passage we again looked for seals and found several good options. However, the ice was too thick and we had to use the ship to move it out of the way. After several attempts, we finally had to call a end to the field operations and start our way back to Palmer Station. The images today show the many different icebergs we saw at the north end of Adelaide Island. We've also included a satellite image of the area we have been working in. The numbers correspond to the order in which we worked in them. #1 is the north end of Adelaide Island or the south end of Crystal Sound, #2 is Lallemand Fjord, #3 is the region off Adelaide Island where we had sunny weather and glassy calm waters.

We look forward to spending a few days in Palmer Station as the other science group goes out to catch some more fish for their studies at Palmer Station. We will then head back across the Drake Passage to Punta Arenas, Chile, where we will change crews and the other seal team will pick up where we left off. We managed to outfit 9 seals with tags. That leaves at least 3 for our relief team, which will start looking for animals in a couple of weeks.