Did someone say PENGUIN?

10 January 2009

Ok, I can't hold my excitement in-I SAW PENGUINS TODAY!!!!. Not only did I see them but two of them came up to me and TOUCHED me!!!. I spent my day surrounded by penguins-a childhood dream came true! Can any of you say that you have had a childhood dream come true? If not, what are you waiting for-make it happen!!

I woke up this morning at what I thought was 7am to strong sunlight seeping through my shades. When I looked at the clock it was 4am. Oh right the sun doesn't set for very long here. It set last night at 10:42 pm and rose at 3:07 am. Well, I forced my self to go back to sleep until 7am when I finally woke up and realized the boat was docked-we were at Brown Bluff. Brown Bluff is on the eastern side of the Antarctica Peninsula. I was only an hour away from landing on Antarctica and also counting my 6th continent.

***Can you name the 7 continents?***

Sitting at breakfast you could feel the excitement in the room. We had seen some penguins porpoising the day before but did not get any good looks. everyone was excited at the idea of being amoung the penguins at a colony. I made sure I had a hearty breakfast since I was to spend four hours at Brown Bluff and in addition to seeing the penguins I was going to hike a glacier.

I finished breakfast and headed to my cabin to get dressed. It was a balmy 38 degrees with no wind so I kept my layers reasonable. Fleece pants with water proof linings over them, a thermal shirt and my sweet new Lindblad expedition jacket which had a primo loft lining and a water proof outer jacket. I also got to put on my MUCK boots with two pairs of socks and of course a hat and gloves. The crew called us by floor so I was in the second group to go being on the 2nd floor. We loaded onto the zodiacs and was on land in 3 minutes. As soon as we got on land there were Gentoo and Adelie penguins walking right past us. Even if we hadn't see them we could smell the rookery-fishy! The ground where the Adelie penguins were gathered was covered in pink guano form their diet of krill. The Gentoos area was mostly white because they were mostly feeding on fish.

***Why should you dress in layers in cold weather?***

I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't put my camera down. the penguins are just so darn photogenic. Oh and the best part, there were chicks. Most of the chicks were adult size but still covered in down and depending on their parents to feed them. I estimated that there was about 30,000 Adelie penguins on Brown bluff and about 500 Gentoos. Both penguin species make rock nests and even thought they were finished nesting many of the younger, inexperienced penguins were still building nests, defending them and stealing rocks from other nests. It was a commotion that is for sure. And the noise! They were grunting and squawking the whole time.

After about an hour of taking pictures and trying to control my urge to pick one up and take him home, our guide announced it was time to hike the glacier. So, I tore myself away from the penguins and joined a group of twenty up the nearby glacier. The top gave us gorgeous views of our surroundings.

Right before heading up the glacier I was told there was a nesting snow petrel that I had to see because the chances of seeing one was pretty slim. So, I booked it down the glacier just stopping to fill my water bottle up in the small stream that was made from the melting of this massive ice. I headed over to where I needed to climb for the snow petrel and had to plead with the leader to let me go and see it since it was almost time for us to head back to the boat. She told me to be quick so I ran, yeah that's right leisure club members, I ran up the hillside. It was tucked under a rock face protected from the Brown Skuas which would love to eat a baby snow petrel. She was so beautiful sitting on here nest. It was definitely worth my gasping for air at the top from the run up the hill.

We returned to the boat for lunch and found out that we were heading towards Devil's Island in the Weddel Sea, so named because its two peaks looks like devil horns. This island had a Adelie colony containing approximately 70,000 individuals. We ate up and received a very good lecture on penguin ecology which finished just in time for us to dress for another landing.

This landing i had promised myself that I would not take as many pictures and just sit by the colony and observe, truly take in the experience. So, once again we loaded up the zodiacs but not before we sanitized our boots, which we always did on our return as well.

****Can you guess why it is important that we clean our boots going out and coming in?***

This landing was a lot more difficult than Brown Bluff. We had to maneuver around ice bergs and floating ice. Our drivers did quite well. The ice bergs made the entire scene seem so surreal. Their blue glow didn't seem natural, it is the color of the cleaner some people use in their toilets-THAT BLUE! We caught a glimpse of several penguins on ice bergs on the trip in.

Once on land, I got my bearings and noted that the penguins were on on the hillside covered in scree. I picked a spot up top where I could be alone and watch their behaviour. But, before I began my climb I noticed that penguins were swimming into the beach. So I stopped and watched them porpoise their way onto the beach very clumsily. Some would get a good jump out of the water and land on their feet but most just hopped in and fell on their stomachs.

Once I reached my spot I sat down and placed my camera in my bag so I could take it all in. I watched the adult penguins fight over their stone nests. One would sneak over and take a stone, once discovered the nest owner would puff out, fl app its wings and charge the thief. I also got to witness several feedings. Adult penguins have to spend almost their whole day get food for their downy chicks who need food to grow. Chicks are constantly squawking for food and the adults deliver. Chicks and parents find themselves amongst this mob of thousands of penguins by call. I also witness several individuals showing their dominance by puffing up raising their beaks and squawking away. Twice to my surprise I had a penguin come right up to me and peck away at my bag, they both were interested in the tabs on my zippers, I guess they looked like good rocks. It took everything in me not to reach out and touch them, but I knew how important it is to let the experience happen on their terms not mine.

After an hour and a half of watching them, it was time for all of us to head back to the boat. So, I said goodbye to my group that I had watched all this time and loaded into the zodiac. Back on the boat at 6:30, all of us went up to the lounge to reflect on our day and discuss our different experiences. As we were doing so, the captain announced that we were leaving the Weddell Sea to head to Deception island which would have a colony of Chinstrap Penguins and a chance to swim in a spring. As we began our journey back across the Antarctic Harbor, the captain pointed out the water falls (rarely seen on a Continent with no running fresh water) on port side. The sun was hitting the falls and the view was magical.

So, I am ending the most wonderful day of my life so far blogging. I will write more tomorrow of my experience and more about the penguins.