Just when we thought that we had had our whale show, we went for a Zodiac cruise in Wilhelmina Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula.
We had Andy as our driver who was really good. The call came out for killer whales and it was a zodiac race across the bay to where they were. To our absolute delight we almost immediately saw 3 orcas swimming around and 'skyhopping', which is where they come straight up out of the water and look on the ice floes to see if there are any seals there that they can have for breakfast. They were swimming around curiously and even came under the zodiac and showed us their beautiful colours and their size. They were surfacing just near zodiacs and checking us out and deciding that we were not seals and then moving on.
We cruised some more, looking at icebergs and eventually got the call for more whales, so headed in that direction. They are totally awesome. We found a lone gentoo penguin sitting atop an iceberg, well out of the reach of the whales, but he was wary of us as we went by.
Then someone found a mother leopard seal and cub sleeping on an ice floe. These probably wouldn't be bothered by the whales unless they tried to get the cub. Otherwise the mother is too big for the whale to wrestle with. The cub was trying to get a feed from mum and it took ages for her to bother turning over so it could get to the teat.
Cruised some more found more whales and icebergs and finally ended with a zodiac race with Graham's boat back to the ship.
As if that was not enough, in the afternoon we had walked up a hill and played in the snow...oh and looked at penguins. On the way back in the zodiac we went on a detour via a glacier and found 2 minke whales. They didn’t want to play like the orcas though.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
South Shetland Islands
30 Nov. 08 We are getting around somewhat. We are edging ever closer to the Antarctic Peninsula.
Today we had two trips off the ship, first to Aitcho Island and 2nd to Yankee Harbour. We saw loads more penguins, but the highlight was the Weddell seals, much nicer than those nasty fur seals. They have a grey speckled belly and are quite cute.
The zodiac ride was a bit hairy this arvo and Jeff and I had an impromptu salt water shower, which is ok when the temperature is higher than the brisk 0.5c we had today! My hands were freezing because they got wet and I was more worried about them then watching the penguins.
We got called back to the ship early because gale force winds had come up and if we didn’t leave then we might have been spending the night on the island with penguins for company.
Today we had two trips off the ship, first to Aitcho Island and 2nd to Yankee Harbour. We saw loads more penguins, but the highlight was the Weddell seals, much nicer than those nasty fur seals. They have a grey speckled belly and are quite cute.
The zodiac ride was a bit hairy this arvo and Jeff and I had an impromptu salt water shower, which is ok when the temperature is higher than the brisk 0.5c we had today! My hands were freezing because they got wet and I was more worried about them then watching the penguins.
We got called back to the ship early because gale force winds had come up and if we didn’t leave then we might have been spending the night on the island with penguins for company.
A whale of a time
30 Nov. 08 After dinner Jeff, Ros, Jo and I went to the bridge to see what was up.
I thought that I spotted a black object in the water about 200m ahead of the ship and when I saw it the second time I pointed it out. I said I saw a 'whale like' thing and no-one else could see it. I grabbed the binoculars and all I could see was another ship.
They were all making fun of me, telling me I had too much to drink when I spotted it again, I used the binoculars to confirm and pointed it out and suddenly they could all see the spout! Ha!
The whale cruised off the bow for a while and then there was 2 spouts, and 2 fins...yay, I had found 2 whales. The EL called on the PA and the bridge was flooded.
The whales then put on a show for us for about 30 mins. They came port side and did some breaching, tail and fluke showing and just rolling along. It was totally awesome. There was so much excitement on the bridge it was unbelievable. They came really close to the bow as well and cruised off to starboard and then out into the distance, still throwing themselves around like a couple of kids lolling in a pool.
I thought that I spotted a black object in the water about 200m ahead of the ship and when I saw it the second time I pointed it out. I said I saw a 'whale like' thing and no-one else could see it. I grabbed the binoculars and all I could see was another ship.
They were all making fun of me, telling me I had too much to drink when I spotted it again, I used the binoculars to confirm and pointed it out and suddenly they could all see the spout! Ha!
The whale cruised off the bow for a while and then there was 2 spouts, and 2 fins...yay, I had found 2 whales. The EL called on the PA and the bridge was flooded.
The whales then put on a show for us for about 30 mins. They came port side and did some breaching, tail and fluke showing and just rolling along. It was totally awesome. There was so much excitement on the bridge it was unbelievable. They came really close to the bow as well and cruised off to starboard and then out into the distance, still throwing themselves around like a couple of kids lolling in a pool.
Elephant Island
No prizes for guessing that the name of this island had something to do with the elephant seals. It was calm enough to be able to go out on the Zodiacs and as it was a sunny day it wasn't too cold - even though it was still around zero degrees. It was the calmest conditions our expedition leader has ever seen in his 7 years of coming to Antarctica at that particular spot - normally they can't get off onto the Zodiacs.
We cruised around some rocks with penguins and then checked out the area of land that Shackleton’s men spent 4.5 months waiting to be rescued - it isn't much area! There is now a bust for the Chilean captain of the boat who came to do the rescue. (If you don’t know about Shackleton a quick google search will fix that. He was an adventurer whose ship sunk in the ice in 1911 and then there was an epic journey over land and sea to get back to civilisation)
Next to the beach is a glacier that we had a good look at - then went to see a leopard seal some other boats spotted but it was gone by the time we arrived.
After we were back on board we went straight to the bow of the boat whilst the captain circled an iceberg that had some penguins on. Whilst we were watching a big wave washed some of them off! Very funny.
We cruised around some rocks with penguins and then checked out the area of land that Shackleton’s men spent 4.5 months waiting to be rescued - it isn't much area! There is now a bust for the Chilean captain of the boat who came to do the rescue. (If you don’t know about Shackleton a quick google search will fix that. He was an adventurer whose ship sunk in the ice in 1911 and then there was an epic journey over land and sea to get back to civilisation)
Next to the beach is a glacier that we had a good look at - then went to see a leopard seal some other boats spotted but it was gone by the time we arrived.
After we were back on board we went straight to the bow of the boat whilst the captain circled an iceberg that had some penguins on. Whilst we were watching a big wave washed some of them off! Very funny.
Walking kiwi fruit
The King Penguin chicks come out covered in brown downy feathers to keep them warm. The effect is that they look like a giant kiwi fruit with a small head and beak on top. They waddle around aimlessly while waiting for the parents to come back with some food. These are really cute.
South Georgia
Six months ago if you gave me a map and said to point out South Georgia, I would have been looking somewhere in the region of Russia. Who knew it was actually east of South America? OK, some people know. If you are also geographically challenged, grab yourself an atlas (or google earth) and find out where we actually are.
South Georgia is an unhospitable island sitting in the southern ocean. The Brits like to think they own it and there is even a post office where you can buy UK stamps and post letters that leave the island whenever a ship is heading to England, roughly monthly in summer.
It is also home to the remains of some whaling stations that operated from around 1904 to 1964. The whalers took in the vicinity of 175,000 whales during the operations and consequently it is hard to see whales now. I saw more off Wollongong 3 weeks ago then have been sighted to date on this voyage (27 Nov. 08).
We were able to get off the ship at various beaches and wander around and have close encounters with the wildlife. The rules are you must stay at least 5m away, but sometimes that is not possible.
The King Penguins are very curious and come up to look at us. Some have been only 1-2m away and stood there appraising us, perhaps wondering what the hell these multi coloured giants were doing on their beach. There are loads of different types of penguins, big ones, small ones and in between ones. Different colours too, the Kings have beautiful yellow/orange feathers on their chest and the rockhoppers have a yellow crested hair style. And let’s not mention the 1000s of seals!
The island itself is rugged mountains covered with snow and beaten constantly by the winds that howl in from the west. The southern tip had some huge tabular icebergs floating off the end, and I mean huge they were probably 200m long and 60m high, but that is an uneducated guess. There was one piece of ice that the EL reckons was 30km long and 10km wide. Imagine something about as big as Wollongong floating around the ocean!
South Georgia is an unhospitable island sitting in the southern ocean. The Brits like to think they own it and there is even a post office where you can buy UK stamps and post letters that leave the island whenever a ship is heading to England, roughly monthly in summer.
It is also home to the remains of some whaling stations that operated from around 1904 to 1964. The whalers took in the vicinity of 175,000 whales during the operations and consequently it is hard to see whales now. I saw more off Wollongong 3 weeks ago then have been sighted to date on this voyage (27 Nov. 08).
We were able to get off the ship at various beaches and wander around and have close encounters with the wildlife. The rules are you must stay at least 5m away, but sometimes that is not possible.
The King Penguins are very curious and come up to look at us. Some have been only 1-2m away and stood there appraising us, perhaps wondering what the hell these multi coloured giants were doing on their beach. There are loads of different types of penguins, big ones, small ones and in between ones. Different colours too, the Kings have beautiful yellow/orange feathers on their chest and the rockhoppers have a yellow crested hair style. And let’s not mention the 1000s of seals!
The island itself is rugged mountains covered with snow and beaten constantly by the winds that howl in from the west. The southern tip had some huge tabular icebergs floating off the end, and I mean huge they were probably 200m long and 60m high, but that is an uneducated guess. There was one piece of ice that the EL reckons was 30km long and 10km wide. Imagine something about as big as Wollongong floating around the ocean!
Elephant seals – so big you can’t see them
You guessed it these are big and ugly and have a trunk like nose. OK, it is only a short stubby one, but you get the idea.
The bull seals are big, really big, think 3m and 3-4 tonne. Now you would think that something this big would be kinda hard to miss right?
So here I am walking along, looking everywhere but the road when I hear a yell. I look back and there is this HUGE elephant seal lying on the road. I nearly tripped over the thing, I just didn’t see it! In my defence, it was road coloured and I wasn’t really looking. It would have been hilarious though if I did trip on it and fall flat on my face. Jo laughed lots.
The bull seals are big, really big, think 3m and 3-4 tonne. Now you would think that something this big would be kinda hard to miss right?
So here I am walking along, looking everywhere but the road when I hear a yell. I look back and there is this HUGE elephant seal lying on the road. I nearly tripped over the thing, I just didn’t see it! In my defence, it was road coloured and I wasn’t really looking. It would have been hilarious though if I did trip on it and fall flat on my face. Jo laughed lots.
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