I was sleeping when the captain announced that there were killer whales. Unfortunately they were gone before I was able to get dressed. I missed the stretching class. I thought it was at 7:30 when it was actually at 7:00. I went up to the gym and did ten minutes on the tread mill. Almost immediately after breakfast, we got into the zodiacs for our trip to Brown Bluff, which is at the tip of the Antartic peninsula.
I managed to be in the second boat that went ashore. The pebbly beach was covered with penguins. There were some Gentoo who were nesting with their chicks. They varied from fluff balls to almost looking like their parents.
The large colony of Adelie penguins was very amusing. The chick would chase the adult because they wanted to be fed. I saw two checks chasing an adult who was running away from them. There was another chick in the way and they just ran over it. One adult penguin attempted to mate with a chick. Then there was the march of the penguins as they went to the edge of the water. They clustered around the beach, but didn’t go in, because apparently they sensed a leopard seal. A helicopter from a British ship flew over head and caused the penguins to run hither and thither.
A few people saw a lone chin strap penguin, which must have gotten lost.
I got a picture of the penguins marching which according to the guides they do all day and every day.
I saw a glacier sticking out from land with nothing under it. It was effectively cantilevered. I was told that at high tide the water would be under it. It was really something.
The weather has been fantastic; blue skies and sunshine. I certain hope it holds for the rest of the trip.
After lunch we were supposed to stop at another island, but the Captain indicated that it was too windy. With winds of thirty knots, he is definitely correct. While the zodiacs are stable, there are limits.
After lunch, there was a lecture on some Swedish Antartic explorers, which I found interesting. The speaker picked on the interesting points and spoke well.
The passage to Penguin Island proved to be slightly rough and I started not feeling well. The captain announced that if the weather improved we could go to Penguin Island after dinner. By the way, the food is quite good.
At about 7:45 pm, the captain announced that we were on to go to Penguin Island. There was a two mile hike to and from the top of a hill on the island and people who wanted to join the hike would leave first. Since I didn’t want to attempt something that strenuous, I was not in the zodiak that left at 8:30 pm. I caught a later one. The landing on the island was a bit difficult for me as I had to scramble over rocks and my balance isn’t that good. Upon landing we saw three Weddel Seals and some penguins. The giant Petrel nests on this island and we were warned to keep our distance. We started down the beach , but had to wait while a fur seal crossed the beach into the water. Apparently fur seals are vicious and it is better to stay away. There were some whale bones which probably dated back to 1820-1840. We couldn’t get close to the penguin colony because there were two fur seals blocking the way. There were three elephant seals resting on one side of the penguin colony.
We returned to the ship at about 10:00 pm. I was impressed because after using the scrubber to clean boots, we were offered a cup of hot chocolate. I’m tired and going to sleep as tomorrow may be an early morning – breakfast at 7:00 am to permit a possible stop at Baily Head before going on to Deception Island.
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