Oh, For the Love of Penguins (and Weddell Seals)!

After a very restful night with the ship just gently rocking and swaying, I woke before the alarm again.  Watching the beautiful scenery going by, I remembered that I had some fruit that I had hijacked from the dining room, so I didn't really need to worry about getting dressed early.  So, I hung out in the cabin.  I put away the laundry I had washed and hung in the shower.  I read a little of the book I had grabbed from the library.  I looked through some of the pictures of the emperor penguins.  I did some journaling so I could remember what happened each day for writing the blog.  And I continually looked out the window.  As it came closer to time for them to call my group down to the mud room, I started getting dressed.  We had stopped in this lovely cove (Ciera Cove), and I was looking out over the water when I noticed something bobbing up and down a bit.  In most places I have been, I would have thought duck.  But I didn't believe there are ducks in the Antarctic (WRONG!).  So, I looked a little closer.  I then realized it was penguins!  So, I ran over to grab my camera, whipped open the balcony doors, and stepped out to take pictures.  It was only after I finished that I realized I was out there in my underwear, tights, and bra.  No socks.  No shirt.  No pants.  I really hope none of the expedition team who were out scouting looked up!

I did finish getting dressed, and as I was minutes before my group being called, the announcement came that we would not only be doing the zodiac cruise, but there was an opportunity for a very small landing on the Antarctic peninsula. Can I get a Woo-Hoo!? I ended up on Hard-Core Sanne's zodiac. She was amazing taking us around to see the icebergs, as well as the chinstrap penguins, Antarctic cormorants (aka “Shags”), and gentoo penguins. The gentoos were the ones that were mostly in the water and that were close to the Argentine base “Primavera”. We got to see a bunch of them haul out of the water toward their colonies. They're working on making their penguin highways and waiting for the snow to melt so they can start making their nests. The cormorants mostly hung around with the chinstraps. We also saw an “growler”. That's a chunk of ice that will damage a ship, but isn't an iceberg. (We had a lecture on the different types of ice in the Antarctic. Gaby's amazingly smart, and we learned a lot!)

 

Chinstrap penguins have this little black line, or "strap", under their eyes and beaks.

These are two cormorants/shags.  The shags were hanging out with the chinstraps.

This is "growler" ice.

It's fun to play "the cloud game" with the icebergs.  This one looked different from different angles.  It's a bunny frum this angle.

These two pieces looked like a whale

Gentoo penguins porpoising

Gentoos creating their "penguin highway"

Gentoo penguins hauling out of the water

After checking out the penguin colonies, we swung around to a rocky spot with some ice off shore and some ice and snow just off he beach, but a rocky beach with no big waves where we could make our first (and, it turns out, last) landing on the Antarctic continent!  With proper conditions and equipment, we could have walked to the South Pole from there.  But, obviously, we had neither proper conditions nor proper equipment.  Speaking for myself, we also didn't have the proper motivation, so we spent about 5 minutes on the beach, then loaded back into the zodiac and headed for the ship.  We were a little bit late, taking a bit more time that we were supposed to.  Sanne (who really didn't care that we were late) was our hero for the morning!!

This is the Ocean Victory, our ship, from land. 

With the good conditions, they turned the jacuzzis on this morning.  With my blood pressure, I declined.

So, the afternoon was as good if not better than the morning.  We went to Mikkelsen Harbor and had a landing on D'Hainaut Island.  On the way to the island, we saw a Weddell seal on a rock.

D'Hainaut Island is a large island with a colony of gentoo penguins.  They told us the landing was going to be difficult for those with mobility problems (and potentially for some without).  They had made what they call “ice stairs” out of the boulders, ice, and packed snow.  That was the only way to access the island.  So, when my zodiac got there, I asked that everybody else go first so I didn't slow anybody down and warned Phil (the expedition leader) and the rest of the expedition staff that were assisting that I did have some mobility issues, so would need some extra assistance.  They doubled up on me to make sure I didn't fall or slip down and got me up without much problem.  I took my camera out of my dry bag, left the bag at the landing site, and grabbed a couple of ski poles.  I definitely used those poles to keep my balance on the uneven, snow-covered terrain.  There are supposedly remains of an old whaling station  on the island, but they were covered by the snow at this time.

There were TONS of penguins!  All gentoo.  Some were obviously mated pairs.  In fact, a friend in our group got video of a couple mating!  I thought I was going to have a similar show, but the pair that were looking like they were going to get frisky changed their minds.  They aren't building nests yet because the snow hasn't melted yet, and they can't nest and lay eggs until they have good solid rocky ground.  A couple of them did come close to another friend from our group and I.  Unfortunately, there is a concern with avian flu, so we aren't allowed to let them touch us this year.  To anyone's knowledge, the avian flu is only in the northern bird populations, especially up around Scotland.  However, there are migratory birds who may or may not have already introduced it to the southern hemisphere and Antarctica.  Because of that possibility, we can't risk getting the germs on our clothing in one colony and carrying it to another colony.    The breeding season is short enough already and they face considerable challenges just getting some chicks grown enough to survive on their own before season ends.  Sometimes, they don't make it, even ignoring the predator problem.  No need to add more problems for them.  But this one pair, especially one of that pair, became very interested in cameras and hiking poles, and it kept getting closer and closer.  We are supposed to stand 5 meters from them, and I forget at what point we're supposed to step away from them if they come to us, but I'm sure we passed that point.  At one point, the more curious one of the pair was within a foot of me.  I feel confident I would have had a lap buddy if we had been allowed to sit and didn't have to avoid contact.  The pair were so adorable!  Even though the likelihood of a virus living on our clothing long enough to spread to the next colony we visit is virtually nothing, adult me is okay with this precaution.  Inner child me, however, is throwing a tantrum because I so wanted to play with the penguins!

Gentoo penguins calling to each other.  Sorry about swinging the camera so fast.  I was just so excited!

These guys came so close.  I don't know.  Watching it again, maybe they were just trying to figure out how to get past, but standing there, it seemed they were coming to us, specifically.  There was lots of room to go around, and we weren't blocking the normal path, but maybe they didn't see it that way.

After about an hour and a half on the island, my turn was over, so I went back to the landing site.  I put my poles back in their container, picked up my dry bag, put my camera back in it, and made my way back to the embarcation crew.  Phil suggested that I sit on the top step and slide on down.  Sounded like an excellent ideal.  So, after Heidi and Phil made sure I sat and didn't fall, I slid down the make-shift stairs, where Phil caught me and helped me land upright at the bottom.  Then I just sat on the pontoon of the zodiac and swung my legs around to the inside, et viola!  I was in Kevin's zodiac ready to cruise around the area.  He swung us down to a little island where some penguins and Weddell seals were hanging out.  Wedell seals do not eat penguins.  They eat fish.  So, they can coexist right beside each other.  They have just the cutest faces!!

When we returned to the boat, the sheathbill gulls had taken over the jacuzzi and party area on deck 7!  One came down to deck 6 to give me a personal invitation to come!

When everybody returned, Phil gave the nightly briefing. We apparently have another couple of positive COVID cases on board. We were required to show that we had had the vaccine (both doses) to board the ship. We were not required to have boosters, and just a couple of weeks before boarding, the negative PCR test was waived, too, so that was no longer a requirement. People who showed upper respiratory symptoms were invited to test, but were not required to do so. They are now requiring masks, but they still aren't requiring those with symptoms to either test or quarantine. That is really the only negative on the ship, and as the boosters evolve and precautions continue to get better, that will also improve. Looks like I'll be spending more time in my cabin. Good thing I upgraded to the balcony! 

Tomorrow, we are expecting to run into more storming, so we aren't sure what we will and won't be able to do. The ultimate plan is at least one landing, this time potentially with adelie penguins, but we will have to see what conditions are like when we get there.