Patrick Robinson at Signy Island, South Orkneys -- We made it through the drake passage with very calm seas and have arrived at our first stop, a British research base on Signy Island (part of a small group of islands called the South Orkneys).  We are dropping off a few biologists and will return for them after the oceanographic and seal-tagging work in a few weeks.  

The BBC's Planet Earth movie site Loveearth.com features TOPP whale researcher Bruce Mate and his Antarctic humpback whale project. Here is a link to his project.
It's got tracking data, a narrative journal, and video. Planet Earth, the movie, premiers in Europe soon, and will make it to the U.S. next year.

After a final day working to catch a seal we headed north back to Palmer Station. The weather continues to be amazing with the barometer over 1000 mmHg (sunny, high pressure).