13th March – Wildlife in wild places

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Thursday 13 March 2014

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GentooChase_SH_N9043Today we had an early start as we travelled through the Lemaire Channel at first light. It was amazing to watch crabeater seals lounging on the ice floes and minke whales swimming in the channel as the sun rose over the snowy mountains. For our first landing, we stopped at Port Charcot where we took the zodiacs to shore. There were hundreds of Gentoo and some Adelie penguins walking and sliding on the snow and swimming in shallow protected water. There were also a few fur seals and a crabeater seal sleeping near the penguin colonies. We snow-shoed up one of the mountains on the coast and had a breath-taking view from the top. The day was clear and sunny so we could see for miles in all directions towards the sea and surrounding mountain ranges over 1,000m high. Some of us were also lucky enough to glimpse some killer whales cruising by swiftly on the far side of the bay.We then returned to the Plancius and continued our seabird/marine mammal surveys while we travelled to our next landing site. The weather continued to be on our side, with clear blue skies and bright sunshine the entire day. We saw a few more minke whales swimming by icebergs, as well as many penguins swimming and porpoising around the ship.

Our second landing site was Vernadsky Station, which is a Ukranian Antarctic base (65°15’ S, 64°16’ W). We received warm welcomes from the penguin living by the Station, as well as the friendly research scientists who work there. The scientists gave us a tour of the base and briefly explained the research they do down here. Inside, we found the southern-most Souvenir Shop on Earth and some of us sent postcards home (which might, with a bit of luck, arrive in the next few months!). After the tour, we took a Zodiac cruise through the channels near the research station. There were some small icebergs in the narrow passages and a couple of high snow cliffs. As we cruised around, we saw quite a few penguins and crabeater seals, either swimming in the water or sleeping on the icebergs. One of the groups a lso met a curious leopard seal who came right up to their Zodiac and swam underneath them!

For the rest of the afternoon, we were busy with our wildlife surveys from the ship. The clear weather allowed us to search for miles from the ship. We saw many humpback whales in the distance, often travelling in fairly large groups of 3-5 and fluking often, so they may have been foraging. One humpback even came right up beside our boat as we passed it, before diving safely behind us. As we finished our surveys for the day, we were able to watch a beautiful sunset from the ship’s deck. What an awesome day!

Amy (MRes Student)

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