We had arrived at the Polish Arctowski Station to offload winter supplies and scientists.  The Poles here have an amphibious vehicle which you see here unloading supplies from the ship.

… and here they are coming out onto the land.

We received a warm welcome at Arctowski and then it was time to wander out and explore around the base.

If you’re going to be spending a winter in Antarctica, you need to find ways to amuse yourself and soccer is very popular when weather conditions allow.  We also observed from afar a soccer game at Vernadsky Station while we were there.

Nothing like relaxing on a white sand beach.  Just one problem, though.  This isn’t actually sand.  That’s a small lighthouse in the distance and some of the photographers from our expedition scattered around it.

Whalers were here as recently as the early twentieth century, especially since the huge Admiralty Bay never gets blocked by ice.  There are many whale bones along the shore.

I saw four seals of three different kinds and a gentoo penguin or two.  This is an elephant seal.

A weddell seal comfortably snuggled in on a mattress of snow and ice.

Another weddell seal taking advantage of its natural layers of insulation.