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.

Running From the Storm Right to the Rarest Penguin Sighting!

 After everybody got back on board from their zodiac tours, the ship started moving again.  The plan was to move from Wilhelmina Bay/Foyn Harbor to Portal Point in Charlotte Bay.  At that point, we would do a land hike, stepping foot on the Antarctic Peninsula for the first time.  During lunch, the seas seemed to be getting rough again.  At one point, it felt like we were making a circle.  Soon after, Phil, the expedition leader, announced that Charlotte Bay was unsafe and that the other ship in that area had just bugged out of there and was seeking shelter in Wilhelmina Bay.  So, he announced we were turning around and heading back to the general area.  It's beautiful, and I've spent some nice time on the balcony, but the winds are too strong for another zodiac cruise here, so they looked around to try to find us a good excursion for the afternoon.  We are one of the newest and most technologically advanced and stable ship in the Antarctic right now, but these winds!

When we got away from the winds, and the seas calmed, we stopped for some humpback whales that were swimming between a couple of icebergs.  Some seals hanging out.  And one of the birding group, the Rock Jumpers, actually briefly saw an emperor penguin, but the critter scooted out of view quickly.  The picture he got indicated that it was, indeed, an emperor penguin.  

After a while of people getting their fill of the area we were hanging out in with the storm still threatening the area we were supposed to be in, our captain and expedition leader talked and decided to just go further down into the southern portion of the bay.  That decision ultimately paid off.  An emperor penguin was spotted and confirmed on an ice sheet beside an iceberg!  He was just a little thing, and initially, it was pretty far from the ship, but Cpt Jeremy slowly inched his way closer and closer.  He also instructed the crew to open a different observation deck off the Shackelton Lounge, where we usually have our briefings and lectures.

He was just a little dot. I'm surprised my picture was this clear! While we were all enjoying our sighting of the juvenile emperor penguin, suddenly, two of his friends decided to jump out of the water and onto the closer portion of that ice sheet! THREE EMPEROR PENGUINS!! The emperor penguin is usually deep in the Antarctic continent, seeming to prefer the harshest of weather. They are considered one of the ten hardest to spot species of bird in the world. AND WE SAW THREE OF THEM!!! This will be the high point of the cruise for many of us most likely! And all because of a storm that kept us from doing what we had planned! At one point, some larger animal made a splash in front of the lower two. We thought it was a seal. I accidentally got a picture of it. It was very difficult to tell, but those on the crew who would know these things finally settled on potentially a couple of fin whales based on the dorsal fin that partially appears in the picture.

After a while, the first one seemed to notice the others and started calling to them.  When they were finally reunited, they formed a circle and danced around for a little while!  It was so adorable!  The experts were saying that the first one was probably a juvenile, so our made-up scenario is that this was the reunion of junior and the parents!

For dinner, our group (Antarctica Travel Group) reserved the panoramic restaurant for a hot rock dinner.  I didn't take a single picture of the food or set up!  The company was excellent.  The food was excellent.  And the day had been excellent.  Who could possibly think of food pictures when emperor penguin pictures were so fresh!  Anyway, hot rock dinner is like a fondue/melting pot type of meal, but instead of a pot of oil, you have a hot rock in front of you for cooking your food, and you don't have to share it with anybody.  It was an amazing meal with amazing company and amazing atmosphere.  After dinner, we took a group photo.  

One of our guides, Kevin, put on a concert with his guitar. I was so tired, I could only listen to a couple of songs before I had to head up to bed. I mean, we expect the weather to clear tomorrow, and the plan is to do another zodiac cruise in the morning and a land excursion in the afternoon. I have to get my beauty sleep so I can be up for both! We're just a couple of days into this, and I already recommend an Antarctic cruise for anybody!

Let the Animal Sightings Begin!

On our third day, we did biosecurity and got prepared to leave the ship.  Biosecurity included inspecting and vacuuming and inspecting our gear to make sure we don't bring in any invasive species, whether seed, larvae, germ, or any other way.  The avian flu is devastating some northern bird populations, and yes, humans are not the likely vector for spread, but I'm good for not taking any chances, even if that means I can't allow the penguins to touch me!  We also went to the mud room, scope out our lockers, and got fitted for the boots and zodiac life jackets we will be wearing.  Kayakers had a briefing, and I had a nap.

At lunch, a humpback whale put on a breaching show, but I couldn't get a good angle for a picture, so apparently, it didn't happen!

Afternoon lectures were on penguins of the Antarctic (primarily Gentoo, Adelie, and Chinstrap, plus the penguin that shall not be mentioned because it lives so far in the interior that it is rarely ever seen) and some historical, geographical, and meteorological aspects about the Drake Passage, and the circumnavigation current.  The Drake Passage is named after Sir Frances Drake.  Why is pretty well disputed.  He got blown off course and found that you could go around the island now known as Tierra del Fuego, bypassing the English tax lords who guarded the Strait of Magellan that separates the island from the mainland.  Neill and Gaby explained that the Drake is so stormy and rough because of a number of things.  First, it's a relatively small area that pushes through a significant amount of water.  And, as we all can see with rivers and streams, when a body of water is narrowed, the water speeds up through the narrow portion.  The Drake is the narrow portion.  It is also the meeting point of all of the worlds southern oceans.  Further, there is a semi-permanent low pressure area that sits at the latitude of the Drake Passage.  It was all very interesting.  Staff estimated that our Drake Passage was about average, but that it felt lake-like because of the ship's stabilizers.  If that was the feel of the Drake Lake, I would hate to feel the shake!

After a tumultuous night that saw some pretty serious waves, we got past the barrier islands, through the storm, and started some smooth cruising.  About 5:30 or 6:00, I cracked an eye and saw the most amazing landscape!  Pictures just do not do it justice!  Even professional pictures that I have seen made by professional photographers.  I tried to open my balcony door, but it appeared to be stuck and I couldn't budge it.  So I took a couple of shots through the window and started getting dressed so I could go out to the deck again until Dede's shift started and I could ask him to open my balcony for me.  Before I could get dressed, a chunk of ice started floating by my window, and it appeared to have a seal on it!  So, crappy picture through the window, my first wildlife sighting that was not a bird!  I have my underwear on and my tights up to my knees, and here comes another one!  So, I do that “pants-at-your-knees” waddle to the window and get a picture of that one.

Before I could get completely dressed, here comes another seal!

I finally managed to get fully clothed and went out on the back deck, where there are a couple of more people.  After watching and doing some bird pictures, we found a group of chinstrap penguins swimming through the water, doing their little dolphin-type maneuvers, called porpoising!  FIRST PENGUINS WERE CHINSTRAPS!!  Ohhhh, I was soooo hoping those shots came out okay!

When things started calming down, I decided to go in, maybe to get some breakfast, maybe to see what the inside early birds were doing, but mostly to get a breakfast drink.  Once I got inside the hallway, I flagged down somebody who looked like they may have been on the staff or crew, and he opened my balcony door for me.  My options for drinks without ordering from the bar are pretty much any type of coffee or hot chocolate you could possibly want, including espresso, lattes, etc; a huge variety of teas, including my current favorite Lady Gray and some fruity herbal mixes; or a mediocre orange juice.  So, I grabbed a couple of watermelon wedges and a cup of hot chocolate and started talking with the staff and early risers downstairs.  I tried to describe the seals I saw and, as usual, did a pretty poor job of it.  Fortunately, I carry my camera everywhere, and I showed them the pictures.  Turns out, both seals were male fur seals, one wet and in a molt and the other in his normal plumage (looking amazingly like a California Sea Lion, but not being one).

FIRST HOURS ACROSS THE DRAKE PASSAGE, AND I'VE ALREADY SEEN TWO FUR SEALS AND A GROUP OF CHINSTRAP PENGUINS!!  I HOPE THIS IS A GOOD OMEN FOR THE TRIP!

Then, I decided to go across to the dining room.  I really was kind of wanting runny eggs and potatoes, which I got.  While eating breakfast, there was a pod of whales off in the distance.  They were just breaching enough that you could see their backs and the characteristic dorsal fin of a humpback whale, but there appeared to be at least three of them.  I didn't get pictures because they were so far away, but they were there.  I don't have pictures, but I do have witnesses.

After breakfast, we dropped anchor in Foyn Harbor in Wilhemina Bay by Enterprise Island. My group was in the second shift for the zodiacs, and Sanne was giving a lecture on humpback whales to the group that was on board.  Lectures can be live-streamed to your cabin, so I had already decided to charge batteries and get ready for the landing.  The morning announcements included that the ship now has a confirmed positive COVID case.  So, another good reason to live stream the lecture instead of actually attending.

Finally, my group was called for the zodiac cruise!  We cruised around the harbor, looking at all the beautiful, mystical scenery.  There was an old shipwreck and so many icebergs!  The water was so clear, you could see the submerged parts of the shipwreck as we cruised over it.  Our driver, Ab, took us close enough that I was able to get a handful of snow off the iceberg and taste it.  So clean!  Just pure snow!  One of the people on the zodiac even tasted some of the sea ice.  I'm doing really well physically, but I'm not able to bend enough to reach into the water over the pontoons of the zodiacs without falling in, so I did not.

After everybody got back on board from their zodiac tours, the ship started moving again.  The plan was to move from Wilhelmina Bay/Foyn Harbor to Portal Point in Charlotte Bay.  At that point, we would do a land hike, stepping foot on the Antarctic Peninsula for the first time.  

Well, I have some things I need to do in town.  Hopefully, I'll have the energy to tell you about the afternoon of November 4 this evening!  It was an amazing afternoon, though, and will take lots of time!

Antarctica, Here I Come!

I flew into Ushuaia on the morning of Oct 31, arriving in the morning.  They let me check into my room early, so I didn't have to worry about my bags, but I still wasn't getting my parka until boarding the cruise, and it was feeling a bit chilly, at around 50 degrees F with a significant wind and a little bit of periodic sprinkling rain.  So, I decided to stay in mostly – until I started running low on water.  The hostel owner explained that they really only have one public bus line in town, and although they have some different letters and pretend they are different, all busses take the same route and go the same direction. To take the bus from my hostel to the city center, I would have to ride almost all the way to the national park before doubling back and returning to town.  That would take about 30-45 minutes, and most people can walk it in 25-30.  I would also need a bus card, which turns out to be the same Sube card I got in Buenos Aires.  So, I put on one of my new thermal shirts, emptied almost everything out of my camera bag, and headed to town.  My cruise group was planning to get together for dinner, so I decided I'd catch the bus from the center of town after getting some water.  Google Maps doesn't recognize public transportation in Ushuaia (or maybe Ushuaia doesn't recognize Google Maps), so while waiting in my room, I downloaded the Moovit app, and found the routes.  It was a nice, but uneventful walk into town, which didn't take long at all.  I left my camera in the hostel.  The plan is to tour around Ushuaia when I returned from Antarctica.  Besides, my SD card was clean, and I didn't want to worry about saving Ushuaia pictures while in Antarctica!  So, while walking, I just scoped out where various things were, maybe thinking about the angles to shoot them, etc. After I got to town, I stopped in a cafe and had a hot chocolate, then walked down to the bus stop.  The app said I needed to take bus G or C to get where I was going.  Based on what the hostel owner had told me, I decided to step onto the first bus that came by, bus A, and ask.  The driver looked at the stop I pointed out on the app, said he went there, and set my fare on the Sube machine.  It was one of the shortest and most expensive bus rides I had had yet!  Still cheaper than a taxi, and Uber doesn't operate in Ushuaia.  It was still only 40-ish pesos, so at the blue exchange, about 15 cents.

I got to the restaurant early, but they let me in.  Neill was already there, and I finally got to meet him in person along with the rest of the group.  We've had a WhatsApp group for a couple of months and had a Zoom meeting earlier.  We have about 20 people in our group, and we all tend to get along quite well.  We ate family style, with the restaurant just bringing out various selections and us passing them around.  Finally, Neill pointed out why he chose this restaurant.  He said it only works for the first group of the season, which is us.  On the horizon, clearing customs to leave Chile, was our ship, the Ocean Victory.  We all ran to the window to get pix of it.  At that moment, I wished I had brought my camera.  But I have some crappy pictures taken from my phone of my first in-person sighting of the Ocean Victory.  

We all got to know each other, asked a lot of questions about what to expect on the ship, learned what the process was for dropping off luggage and boarding the ship, and just had a wonderful time.  It was a nice party.  Finally, we started to disperse.  It was late enough that the busses were either not running or running a reduced, slower schedule, so we all started calling cabs.  Most people were staying close to the city center, but my hostel was close to the airport.  I figured I would just have my own cab, but low and behold, another girl from the group was also staying at the same hostel.  She cab fare got cut in half.  Once we got to the hostel, it turns out, she was in the room beside mine!  So we got into our rooms and had a good sleep for the night.  One more sleep until boarding the ship!

When the big day arrived, I was up early.  My new friend and I had already decided to share a cab to the drop off point, so after grabbing some continental breakfast offerings, we headed to the office where we were supposed to drop our luggage.  We were the first luggage droppers of the season!  But that left me with several hours to kill before time to board the bus to the boat.  Keep in mind that not only do I have no coat, but my camera bag is packed to the hilt, and it is HEAVY in that state!  So, I decided to take a city tour on the prisoner train!  So much for not taking pix of Ushuaia until I got back from Antarctica!  There was lots of beautiful scenery, and I learned quite a bit about the penal history of the island of Tierra del Fuego province.  We did stop for a few photo ops, and I had fun talking with other passengers.  My Spanglish is getting pretty good!  

When the tour was over, I ducked into the same cafe as yesterday and had a strawberry juice and an order of french fries until time to head to the bus.  

Upon boarding, I went to my cabin, staked out my bed (closest to the balcony) and waited to meet my roommate.  Now, I had upgraded to a balcony cabin after getting back from Alaska, and Neill said that Albatross had booked the other half of my room instead of him, so my roommate wouldn't be part of our group.  So I waited, and when the mandatory evacuation drill came along (which can only be done after all passengers are boarded), I asked my stateroom attendant if he could find out if there was anybody else coming to my stateroom.  By the time we finished the drill and I got back to my room, he confirmed that there was no one else expected in my double balcony stateroom!  I got the whole thing to myself! No need to pull those pajama bottoms out after all!  There is nobody in this room to be upset because I leave the curtains open whenever I'm in the stateroom, even overnight.  There is nobody to be woken up if the mask of my BiPAP breaks its seal and makes that god-awful racket that may be worse than snoring.  There is nobody in the room to get upset when I fart in my sleep.  And there is nobody in my room to be concerned about when my nightgown decides to ride up!

For those that are interested, the double balcony staterooms are plus-sized friendly.  I have not been cramped at all in the bathroom or shower.  Beds are a large twin, and there are plenty of drawers and closet space.

Once the drills were complete we though we would leave.  That, however, was not meant to be.  The wind had kicked up, and we had to wait for it to die down some before pulling out, which finally did happen in the middle of dinner.  Dinner was pretty good.  I had French onion soup as a starter, prime rib, potato, and brussel sprouts for my entree, and a cookie/cake type thing for dessert.  

After dinner, we had a parka party, where we got our parkas for the expedition.  These are ours to keep.  They're really nice jackets, too!  After getting my jacket, I was able to mostly finish unpacking, take a nice shower, and settle in for a nice sleep - until about 2:00.  We have now entered the Drake Passage.  I don't know exactly when we entered it.  All I know is the ship was rocking and rolling, and there were huge waves outside my balcony.  My door – on Deck 6, no less – was wet, and there was a small rivulet of water draining off my balcony. I don't think the waves crashed up that high, but that water came from somewhere!  I had put on a scopalamine patch the night before, so I don't know if I would have gotten seasick from it, but the patch seemed to be working.  I checked the ship map on the TV.  Yup.  We were in the Drake, and it definitely wasn't the “Drake Lake”.  I was interested in whether the crew would considerate this the “Drake Shake”.  But, they were probably still asleep, so I went back to dreamland, too.  The ship's movement woke me about every hour until I finally got up around 4.

I stumbled around the ship, going up the see what was on upper decks.  I finally ended up on the back of my deck, where the birds were having a wonderful time.  Surrounding me was  a group of birders.  A bird watching group called the Rock Jumpers was also on this cruise.  So as I took my pictures, I actually new what I was shooting, and they would point out the differences to me.   My favorites were the little petrels, especially the Cape petrel.  I took lots of pictures.  One of their leaders told me to put it on burst and auto focus continuous and hope for a couple of good shots out of many.  Now we can see if I retained anything I learned that morning so long ago!

This one is a giant petrel.

This is the grey-headed albatross

This is the grey-headed albatross on the top (backdrop=sky) with the giant petrel on the bottom (backdrop=water)

This is another grey-headed albatross

This is a black-browed albatross

And this is a rainbow from the spray the wind was blowing off the waves!

Finally, I went back inside and up for breakfast, where I learned that many of our group were sick and would not be joining us for many of the days activities.  Today's mandatory lectures were on IAATO (the group that controls tourism in Antarctica) preservation rules and guidelines for visitors of Antarctica and zodiac safety.  The zodiacs are the boats that will take us from the ship to the land or that will ferry us around to look at the marine life, icebergs, and glaciers that are in the water instead of land.  Discretionary lectures were about the birds of the Drake Passage and beginning photography.  I learned a lot.  Around lunchtime, I mentioned to Neill that I had never been able to take a picture of a bird in flight, so he took my camera, made some settings changes, and told me to try that.  And there they will stay – potentially for the rest of my natural life!  As the trip progressed, I learned the ideal settings for birds in flight are shutter priority with a shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second, which is just where Niell set them.

During our daily trip briefing, we were informed that we were heading into a storm.  This storm would make our planned landings on the South Shetland Islands (basically the barrier islands for the Antarctic peninsula) unsafe, so the captain and expedition crew developed a new plan.  Instead of having our first potential for landing tomorrow afternoon, we will continue cruising past the barrier islands and go into the protected coves.  This will potentially give us the opportunity to see sea ice and potentially some penguins who tend to be more on the interior of the continent, like the emperor penguin!  Some of us (me! me!) were stoked about that.  We don't consider that a “booby prize” at all!

As we continued cruising past our planned stop, I kept taking pictures of birds.  I think I finally got the hang of getting the clear shots of bird in flight!

The black-browed albatross

The giant petrel

The cape petrel (my favorite)

Another (or the same) cape petrel.  (Sorry Chrissy.  I now have more pictures of this bird than I do of you!)

I think I might be getting the hang of this!