Overwhelmingly Antarctic
March 21st, Antarctic Peninsula.
The morning started on a high with a stunning snowy passage through the Lemaire Channel – enveloping us with fog, towering icy mountains and glaciers. We had 3 minke whales swim slowly past the bow of the ship, along with several energetically porpoising Gentoo penguins.
The call of croissants and coffee tore us away from the outer decks and we headed to the dining room for yet another hearty breakfast – while munching away we enjoyed the sight of humpback whales right outside the ship’s window. Breakfast with glaciers and whales – What a way to start the day!
Soon after we boarded the zodiacs (sturdy inflatable boats) and zoomed off to visit Vernadsky Station, a Ukranian research base, on the Argentine Islands. The Station originally was a British base called Faraday, but it was sold to the Ukraine for £1 in the 1990’s, and has been used by them year-round since for research in marine biology and atmospheric monitoring.
The base personnel were very welcoming and gave us a tour around the main building and research facilities. We were also able to post postcards (though who knows when they will arrive) and stamp our passports for evidence of our adventure on the snowy continent. As the base was quite small for our 109 passengers, we had been split into two groups (seals and penguins), with each group alternating a visit to the base and to the historic Wordie House, on the neighbouring island. Wordie House is the site of the original research base built in the late 1940s and provided the opportunity for some time travel with its authentic interior, food cans and décor from the 1950s.
After returning to the Plancius for lunch we headed back north for our afternoon landing at Peterman Island. This was a quick change of plans as originally we were to go zodiac cruising in another island group, but the weather conditions proved more favourable for a landing elsewhere. As we travelled across to Peterman island, one zodiac witnessed a rather unlucky Gentoo penguin being torn apart by a leopard seal. Our team on the science (CTD) zodiac managed to complete two monitoring stations with humpback whales for company. There were many more humpbacks, some “lounging” (our new term for hanging out/ logging) and some more active – lobtailin. Humpbacks have become an almost commonplace sight for us in this snowy wonderland.
Peterman Island was still covered with innumerable Gentoo penguins who were comically wobbling, flopping, slipping and sliding around on the snow. To the delight of the birders two Adélie penguins were also spotted – these were in the late stage of their annual moult and looked grumpy and uncomfortable with their old feathers slowly being pushed out by a brand-new feathery coat…. Some of us climbed up to a snowy saddle and looked across to iceberg alley – hundreds of multi-storey sized ice bergs had been stranded there and looked like the strange skyline of an icy metropolis bathed in golden afternoon light.
After such an exciting, ice, penguin and whale packed day we returned to the ship, only to be greeted by an exhilarated call to say that killer whales had been spotted. The excitement was palpable.
Soon we saw three ‘Type B’ killer whales – Type Bs are easily recognisable by their large white eyepatch and a big grey cape that can sometimes get a yellow tinge due to the diatoms that grow on their skin. The whales were heading towards the entrance of the Lemaire Channel. Our Captain slowed the ship and we carefully followed the killer whales to watch. There were many crabeater seals in the water as well as several sleeping humpback whales nearby. It seemed that the killer whales were only interested in the seals and not the whales. A group of crabeater seals started splashing and scrambling onto a very small ice floe. This was too small for all the seals and they were knocking each other off into dangerous waters – comical but also dramatic. The killer whales circled the panicked seals on the floe and after a couple of big splashes we spotted a big piece of what looked like blubber and skin floating on the surface….We didn’t witness the actual kill as the main action took place underwater, but we watched a large flock of kelp gulls, Wilson’s storm petrels and skuas descend upon this opportunistic meal.
Still in awe of what we had just seen, and with the killer whales now by a glacier wall at the edge of the bay, we noticed a large group of at least 14 minke whales travelling together in a tight knit group. Minke whales are not normally considered to be very social, thus this behaviour was unusual, and we interpreted it to be a defensive behaviour due to the presence of the killer whales. It was mind-blowing to have three whale species in such close proximity plus seals and all while surrounded by the most stunning scenery as stage backdrop.
The day ended in the same way as it had started, with an amazing red sunset during our return passage through the Lemaire Channel. It was such a surreal day, filled with countless photos, hugs and tears of excitement and we all were buzzing at dinner. It’s safe to say that today was pretty special and a day we won’t easily forget.
Riona
Wow, What a day. Thank you so much to all the writers and photographers for sharing all the experiences with your readers.