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Ines Duclairoir
February 2022
French Passage & Dorian Cove

The Passage du Français, whose name was given in honor of the Pourquoi-Pas, the first expedition boat to use it in 1909. This passage is a challenge for us because it is white with pack ice. It would be better to be one-armed

The boat of our Swedish companions is not made of steel or aluminum but of a construction solid enough to attempt the passage



After several times blocking the water inlet of the engine cooling circuit with crushed ice from the pack ice, we finally turn around.


The older the ice, the more bluish it gets


We go back through Port Lockroy where we come across a magnificent classic sailboat anchored under the glacier


The more these corridors are used, the more their walls are imposing

It's the season for hatching and feeding the little ones

The little ones of the penguins seem very lazy



One of the most amusing phenomena of this season is the moulting of young penguins. They shed their juvenile down, to obtain waterproof plumage







Dorian Cove: a base held by the English to supply the other bases in the region by air. Here stand an airstrip


Whale bones that still remind us that many bases were whaling bases
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