Scenic Eclipse has wowed guests on her inaugural voyage to Antarctica this week with a rare sighting of emperor penguins in the Weddell Sea.
“Snow Hill Island is home to a large rookery of emperor penguins,” said Lisa Bolton, General Manager Product for Scenic Group. “However it is very rare that we get to see them, particularly at this time of year when the sea ice limits access. This really was a once in a lifetime experience for our guests on board”.
According to Captain James Griffiths the Weddell Sea, while stunning, presents a significantly greater challenge to expedition ships than the west side of the peninsula due to the presence of much heavier ice concentrations.
“Scenic Eclipse was originally only scheduled for a single stop at the northern part of the Weddell, but on examining the ice charts we realised that we had the opportunity to push south towards Snow Hill Island.
“During our transit south we spent around 12 hours in the ice where Scenic Eclipse excelled and demonstrated the value of her Polar Code 6 classification, 1A Super Ice Class and unmatched manoeuvrability.”I am genuinely excited to see what other amazing opportunities this exceptional ship will give us to show Antarctica to our Guests,” Captain Griffiths said.
