The Drake

16th Jan 2009

This is my last entry. We are in the Drake and the swells are massive which means I am down for the count. we should be at Usuaia port on Saturday night. Sunday morning I disembark and begin my long travel back to the States.

when I return I will put up more photos. Thanks for following the trip.

Port Lockroy and Dallman Bay

15th January 2009

After leaving the Wilhelmina Bay we traveled south towards Anvers island. We passed through Peltier Channel early this morning. we anchored at Port Lockroy, Again Port Lockroy is a restored Whaling station. The British made it a base in 1944 and then in 1996 the non profit Antarctic Heritage trust took it over. It is now a museum and gift shop. And it seems the Gentoo penguins like the area as well since they were everywhere. I briefly went over to the whaling station and had a lock at the museum and of course bought some souvenirs form their gift shop. But more importantly I got to mail some postcards.

In 1944 during WWII, the British sent a secret mission, code named Operation Tabirin. Port Lockroy was base "A". the Brits set up several bases on the peninsula to warn of incoming enemy activities. The mission was lead by Lt. Commander James Mart, who first visited Antarctica under the leader ship of Sir Ernest Shackleton. After the war the station was used for research.

After I finished at Port Lockroy, I headed to Jougla Point where there was Gentoo and shags nesting along with bones from the whales that were hunted. Knowing this was my last on shore activity and my last chance to stand amongst the penguins, I tried to take it all in. I watched the Gentoos build nests, squabble with one another and protect their chicks from the blowing wind. These Gentoo seemed to have built more robust stone nests than some of the other colonies we encountered. My guess is that there are a lot more available rocks at this site than the others.

This afternoon we headed north. The captain took a scenic route called Dallmann Bay which is known for its whale pods. We got a tremendous show of humpbacks playing and eating krill. The whales dive down and circle the krill to bring it to the surface then they open their mouths and gulp them down as they rise out of the water.

And now we have started our trek north east back to Usuaia.

Danco and Enterprise Island

14th January 2009

Last night we dropped the Palmer Station people off at their station, waved good bye and began our journey north to Danco Island. Danco is known to have a Gentoo colony.

This morning after breakfast, I had a choice between going ashore at Danco or kayaking the waters. I picked kayaking and what a good choice. The water was so clear I could see the bottom in the shallow ends. I was surrounded by ice bergs. As I paddled up to one I heard a crack and the next thing I know a part of the ice berg had broken off which made the ice berg unstable so the entire structure flipped itself in the water. Luckily I obeyed the rule of staying 2 X the height of the ice berg away. If I had been under it the break would have made my kayak flip with me it. A little scary but since I was safe I was able to appreciate it.

Almost immediately after that I heard a loud noise which sounded like thunder, it was the glacier calving, breaking off. It continue to happen for the hour and a half I was outside. Because the temperature is above freezing, the ice bergs and glaciers are constantly changing. I find these structures to be beautiful! The blue colors that shine in them is like no other blue. A guide told me that the blue on the glaciers show when chunks have been broken off.

***why is some of the ice blue and not white?***

Not only did I get to enjoy the ice bergs and glaciers in my kayak but penguins as well. They were swimming all around my feeding. With the clear water I could see them "fly" underwater. So, graceful in water and so clown like out of it. They did not seem to mind my presence so I just would sit there and watch them dive, swim and porpoise. It was a wonderful experience.

Once everyone returned to the boat the captain set the course to enterprise island. There was not a good spot to land on Enterprise so we went on an hour zodiac cruise. Here we got a glimpse of the old whaling boat Guvernoren which was burned in 1913 and now rest in the Sven Foyn Harbor. As we traveled around the wreck there was a sail boat that was corned in by ice bergs. So, one of our zodiacs helped push the ice berg out so the sail boat could move on.

On the open faced cliffs and the boat were nesting Antarctic terns. These birds look almost identical to Arctic terns, but these do not migrate from one pole to the next. There also was a colony of Blue Eyed Shags. But, te highlight was the ice bergs. I have had such a hard time taking pictures of the bergs. I just cannot capture the blue in the ice-it is like no other color I have ever seen.

After an hour of cruising around and taking photos we met up with a zodiac carrying hot chocolate and schnapps-yum that warmed us up right away.

Tomorrow is our last day for exploring. On Friday we will start our journey back cross the Drake Passage. The last weather report said 45 foot swells, so let's hope that changes:) In the morning we are going to Port Lockroy where a historic restored British station is manned by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. I will be able to mail my postcards from there since it has the only post office in Antarctica.

It is 10pm and I just got back from the deck where the views are breathtaking. It has been cloudy and rainy last couple of days but the sun has broke and is reflecting on the water, ice bergs and glaciers. And to top it off three Humpback whales had decided to put a show on for us. I am going to miss this place. the solitude and pure silence is something I have never experienced before and will certainly be hard to find again.

Lemaire Channel, and Petermann island

13th January 2009

The boat spent the night anchored at Palmer Station. This morning at about 5:30am it traveled south to pass through the Lemaire channel. This channel is often blocked by large ice bergs, but we got lucky once again and didn't have a problem getting through. The passage was thin and on either side were mountains with patches of glaciers. The passage only took about 60 minutes to travel through. It was first discovered by de Gerlache in 1898. It is a safe passage to the southern islands. Our destination was Petermann Island where Gentoo and Adelie penguins breed along witht the blue-eyed shag. The shag is related and looks very similiar to the cormorants you see on Nantucket, but these have brilliant blue eyes.

This was the first island that was covered in snow, deep snow at that. It is also the most southern point that Gentoo penguins breed. I think I have decided that the Gentoos are my favorite of the penguins i have seen. They are very animated and make a call that sounds like they are banging on a drum inside there chest with a little horn sound as well.

The penguins on this island have been studied by Oceanities for the past 5 years. They are looking at population numbers and breeding behavior. We have two Oceanited researchers on the boat. At each site that has penguins they count. They are counting nests which is quite a job in these large colonies.


This island also contains some algae. A pink and green algae that grows in the snow giving the island a colorful hue.

Penguins, Orcas, Humpbacks and crashing into an Ice berg!

11th January 2009

During the night the boat traveled to Deception island from Devil's island. We traveled through the Antarctica sound into Bransfield Strait. By the time i woke up the boat was anchored at Bailey's Cove, Deception Island. Bailey's Cove is known for its population of Chinstrap Penguins, 500,000 at last estimate. What is fascinating about this island is the penguins build their rock nest high in the hills and are constantly making a long and tedious trek back and forth for food. It is also known to be a very difficult place to land any kind of boat to because of the surf, however we got lucky and the winds died down just in time to get us on the island. We ended up a little wet but it was well worth it.

I spent two hours walking around the island and observing the chinstraps. I saw several skuas (predatory sea bird) kill several chicks and steal eggs from nests. The skuas also nest on Bailey's cove-smart since their food source is there as well. I also saw my first glimpse of the pale-faced sheathbill, a bird that looks like an all white chicken. It is a scavenger.

I noticed that some of the penguins were sitting on eggs. It was way past egg laying time, but many were hoarding eggs that rolled down the hill. These were juveniles who didn't know any better than follow their instinct to take care of these abandoned eggs. There was even one penguin who had chosen a rock about the size of a chinstrap egg to incubate.

These penguins were the smelliest, dirtiest and loudest of all the colonies so far. Their white was covered in mud and pink guano. They had also created little penguin highways. One of the naturalists said "Penguins, white means they are heading towards you and black means they are heading away from you". That was right on. I also saw a chinstrap penguin that was all white. it isn't albinism but a condition called Leucistic. Supposedly there have been studies that have shown that these individuals are just as successful as the normal pigmented birds. I have a hard time believing this since they lack the counter shading that helps them catch prey and avoid predators. I also observed this individual being attacked more than any other penguin i observed.

As we were leaving Bailey's cove we encountered 6 Orcas or Killer Whales. They swam near the boat for a while but never really showed them selves. after lunch we headed through Neptune's Bellow's a beautiful thin strait that was surrounded by volcanic mountains and beaches. Deception Island is a sunken Caldera. Its last volcanic activity happen in 1970.

***What is a caldera?***

Next we found ourselves at the old Norwegian Whalers station. Decreptive buildings, whale bones, whalers cemetery and several tanks were left there to slowly deteriorate. I immediately noticed the steam coming from the edge of the water near the beach. there was still heat coming up from the caldera making the water at the edge very hot. The beach is made up of volcanic ash and rocks. The entire area is protected so no one is allowed to go ashore.

After the Whaler's Cove we headed to a cove called Pendulum Cove. Here we were allowed to go ashore and swim! Yup a few of us put our bathing suits on and went to the waters edge. The active caldera was heating the water and beach. Stepping in it felt like a warm bath since it was mixing with the cold Antarctic water. I swam 6 feet out from the edge and hit that freezing water. Needless to say I swam back as fast as I could to get back to that warm water.

Once all of us who wanted to swim got back to the boat the captain announced we were heading south to go to Lindblad Strait. We hit that strait at about 9pm (remember it is light out until midnight and it never gets really dark). It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! I felt I was sailing in a fairy tale land covered with blue and white icebergs. The water was like glass and we could see the krill at the surface which explained why we saw so many humpback whales.

12 January 2009

All night we traveled to Anvers Island. We were a little behind so we didn't get there until lunch time. After lunch I had a choice of kayaking or going to see another Adelie colony-I picked penguins! So, we went to Torgensen island. Palmer Station scientist are using this island to conduct a study to see if tourism affects the penguins breeding success. They split the island in half and tourist can only go on one half of the island. They have found that there is no difference between the side that doesn't get tourists and the one that does. but, contrastly the Australians have done a similiar study on the west side of the peninsula and have found that tourism has decreased production of chicks. so, I guess they better do some more research.

Not only did I get to spend some time with the Adelies but I also came across a female elephant seal, my first. She was sun bathing on the rocks, totally unaware of us. after only 45 minutes on the island we went for a tour of Palmer Station. It is a small research station with just 45 people total. Their research varies from marine mammals to the largest land animal in the Antarctic, the flightless fly.

On our return back to the ship we noticed several seals on ice bergs so we got up close and personal with crab seals and leopard seals.

The Palmer station people came onto our boat to have dinner and chat with us and are even going to travel with us tomorrow to the Lemaire Channel, otherwise known as ice berg alley. We will also hit Petersen Island.

I will write again on Wednesday. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

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.

Land HO!

9th January 2009

Well, I woke up this morning feeling no sea sickness and have made through the day. Many of the boat members were worried about me, some even thought I wasn't going to make it. But, I am tougher than I look:)

We crossed the convergence this morning which means I am officially in the Antarctic. The temperature is relatively warmer than I was expected-the sun is even showing.

***What bodies of water come together to make the Antarctic Convergence?****

After breakfast I headed outside to do some birding. I saw the Black Browed albatross and the Giant Petrel again, along with the Cape Petrel. I also got to see the Soft Plumage Petrel and the Antarctic Prion (there are actually three species but they are very hard to identify). While I was outside another Fin whale was seen blowing in the distance. I am so impressed with the maneuvering of the boat to allow us to have better glimpses of the whales. I think the captain has a soft spot for whales.
After lunch we had a debriefing on how to use the zodiac boats which will be bringing us to land all week. We also went over guidelines that need to be obeyed in order to respect the
environment.


****Can you think of some guidelines that tourists have to do while on land in order not to harm
wildlife or the environment?***

After the debriefing I went in for a short nap and awoke to the voice of our expedition leader, Bud, over the intercom saying land has been spotted. I jumped out of bed and through on warm clothes and ran up 3 floors to get that first glimpse of the Antarctic Peninsula. The first thing I noticed was the smell . It was the smell of rotting fish which I knew meant penguin colonies. It was amazing! We were traveling through the South Shetland islands which were covered in glaciers and wait Penguins!!!! The islands were full of Gentoo penguins and some even were swimming by our boat. I can't describe my excitement seeing the gentoos swimming by the boat, hopping out of the water with such speed and grace. They were feeding on krill, small crustaceans similar to shrimp. The krill is at the bottom of the food chain in Antarctica. Everything depends on them-good thing there seems to be an endless supply. In fact if you collected all of these tiny animals and weighed then they would weigh more than the entire human population! Good thing, since baleen whales spend their entire summer scooping up massive amounts of krill. Blue whales have been known to eat 4tons of krill in one day! This was also the first time I saw a South Polar Skua which is a fierce predator in Antarctica feeding on penguin chicks, fish and are also scavengers.

The ocean also contained several small icebergs. More icebergs of greater size will appear tomorrow when we are closer to the mainland. As I was admiring the penguins, we notice two Humpback whales breaching. These animals are like the entertainers of the sea, showing off their tails every chance they get. Actually, when these whales dive and show their tail they are circling the krill to force them to the surface so the whales can easily scoop them up.

Tomorrow will be our first landing on shore. We will disembark at Brown Bluff. We will have 4 hours to hike and take in the penguin colonies, see some fur seals and possibly elephant seals. We also learned today that we will get a truly unique opportunity to visit the USA Palmer Research station at Anvers island. Only 12 permits are given per year to allow visits and this boat got one since there are two couples whose son and daughter is working there. I am not sure yet when this will happen, but I am very excited to see what this station is studying.