In the interest of saving the sanity of the passengers, our trip leaders are making heroic attempts to get us off the ship and into a zodiac for a closer look at Peter 1 Island. It is an uninhabited volcanic rocky land mass claimed by Norway (as are Bouvet Island and Queen Maud Land). The island is encased in a glacier and surrounded by pack ice. The waters are 4000 m to the sea floor and the rock masses rise up to 1,6000 m. Black and red basalt rock are the foundation on which the island serves as the part time home nesting place for petroles and penguins high above the sea waves.
In the morning, we jump into the zodiacs and blast through the sea ice to a wet bumpy landing against the rocks in between the swells. The zodiacs gave us an 45 degree high-five as it hit the rocks and then slid quickly down on the rocks. Although the winds were 30 knot in the open water, the swells at the landing were somewhat baffled by ice floats. The rocky outcropping we climbed up toward gave us a better view of the petrole and penguin nests. Climbing above us was a researcher from Holbart Tasmania traveling with us for the purpose of capturing bird poo for DNA research. The specimens must be “fresh” and are carefully bagged, tagged and sealed in a special refrigerator for their trip to the lab. The DNA is used primarily for studying diseases including avian flu which has stuck South Georgia Islands, New Zealand and various islands around Southern Ocean.
Along the way, we discovered that all the exercising we are doing (tongue-and-check) is causing muscle cramps. Unbeknownst to us, the desalination process on the ship strips all of the minerals as well as the bad stuff from the water in its processes. So we need to eat bananas, walnuts, Brazil nuts and pickle juice.
Success. Best day yet. This morning
Rizbee On The Road 
looks like a fun adventure!