Antarctica Day 7
We awoke to bright sunshine and beautiful white vistas outside our cabin window. But, as one example of how quickly weather changes here, by the time we had breakfast, suited up and headed out on our zodiacs the weather was very overcast and grey, although not foggy so still clear enough to see the landscape around us. We are admist the Melchior Islands.
Ice and icebergs, humpback whales on the surface of the water, fur seals on rocks and Antarctic terns flying overhead. Our zodiac leader was, as they all are, very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of the area and we continue to learn more every day through talks and discussions about the geology and history of this continent.
We decided to go to the on-ship full service restaurant for lunch — and we were 2 of only 5 people eating with about 8 cooks and servers. There we could choose a meal to order rather than the elaborate buffet offered downstairs on Deck 5 – and one guest came in by herself and ordered a hamburger and fries. The advantage of this quiet place was that we did have a magnificent view from Deck 8 of the floating ice and rocky mountains around us.
The afternoon was spent on Cuverville Island, where we were originally scheduled to land soon after our arrival but were rerouted due to weather. The staff here and expedition leaders have been working hard to keep us out of rough waters which is one of the big advantages of a ship this size and smaller group of passengers. Every night we have a recap of where we have been and a preview of where we are expected to be the following day, weather willing. The colored weather charts we are shown are strong visual images of the huge differences in weather within small areas here. We are getting a prediction of rough water over the Drake later this week and staying a little longer and moving further off the usual track is being discussed to get us through the fjords of Chile and back to Punta Arenas without too much shaking.
Cuverville, our destination in the afternoon, is a rocky shore with over 5,000 pairs of penguins. Theoretically, we are asked to keep 5 meters, or 15 feet, away from these amazing creatures. But that was not possible, as they were everywhere and coming right up to us with some curiosity. These are all Gentoo penguins, the majority breed, with the orange beaks. This is where they breed and give birth in late December, early January, so around us were mothers and their chicks. The chicks are in fact almost the same size as their parent except many are still carrying their downy infant fuzz which is gradually shedding and leaving them with their waterproof feathers. Those who don’t complete molting soon, when the winter sets in, may not survive as they all go into the sea and must fend for themselves.
At this point, we can see they are still being nourished by their mothers. They little ones click their beaks around that of their parent who then regurgitates some food into their mouth. No swimming in the sea necessary at this stage in their lives.
The snowy hillside above us is filled with the dark bodies of the penguins who choose perhaps a quieter place than the rocky shore with strange visitors. We see some of them running around, sliding and playing together, as the young of all species are wont to do, while others are asleep, some with their heads resting on rocks. It is a very busy scene.
As we could not walk very far in this populated area, we return to our zodiacs and have a long and very wonderful ride in the area looking for and watching humpback whales who are numerous in this cove which must have large amounts of krill underneath the ice to sustain these large mammals. Sitting in a rubber raft at sea level and hearing the periodic blowing sounds of numbers of whales, one right after each other, as a plume of spray and a huffing sound, each at a slightly different pitch, exploded around us is a very memorable auditory experience. Occasionally a whale head would emerge from the water as if looking at those sharing its space. We wait for them to breach and show more of their bodies but they are mostly resting on the water with an occasional view of the curve of their dorsal fin as they go under water for, I assume, a little snack.
We heard at a talk later in the day that each whale eats 1.5 tons of krill per day! And also learned about how important their poop is to the ecosystem, from nutrients needed for phytoplankton, to krill, and up the chain. A few of the zodiacs, including ours, stayed out a little beyond the scheduled time and we returned with very cold fingers and toes but with warm memories of watching pods of whales floating on the water.