Because reaching the North pole wasn´t enough, I embarked again on board the powerful polar exploration ship Le Commandant Charcot in November 2021 for another Antarctic season full of surprises ! The highlight of the season was to reach an emperor penguin colony that had been sighted by satellite images close to Larsen B ice shelf in the Weddell sea in 2014 but had never been seen by human beings. It felt like a gift from the universe to hear and see the fluffy emperor penguin chicks after a kilometer of walking on the sea ice in the sunset. My team and I were overwhelmed with emotion. As new comers, we paid attention to keep our distances with the chicks, and the adults rewarded us by escorting us on the way back from their colony. Other highlights of the season were to cross the Antarctic circle and see the gigantic tabular iceberg A69B on the Eastern side of the Antarctic peninsula, to explore the Weddell sea and especially James Ross island, and to have rare wildlife encounters with a Ross seal nearby Charcot island and with a female leopard seal nursing her newborn pup on the shuga ice at the South-West entrance of Marguerite bay. Inspired by the whiteness in which Le Commandant Charcot sails, I started to work on a white photography series, which you can find on my Photography page. Once again that season, I was grateful to work with great captains and an amazing expedition team who made it memorable.
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