From Tay to Tay
Day 12 – 18th January, written by Calum
This morning I awoke to the gentle rocking of 2m swell outside our window. After a quick breakfast, the first seabird and marine mammal observation teams made their way onto deck 7, where we were met with a familiar view. Grey clouds hung over a frosty morning, as the salty air refreshed our senses. At first glance, you could almost mistake this landscape for the view of Tayside from St Andrews in winter. We were indeed sailing through the Firth of Tay, with Dundee Island quickly coming into view!
Surprisingly, the Tay does not flow from 56°N all the way to 64°S. This second firth was named by Captain Thomas Robertson of the Dundee whaler commission, along with Dundee Island, in 1893. Our view of the Firth lacked the familiar fleet of 99 buses dashing across at 50 MPH. Instead we were making our way further east into the Weddel Sea, passing hundreds of porpoising Adelie penguins along the way. The penguins launched themselves effortlessly above the water in groups as large as 20, while some their kin watched on from the surrounding icebergs. Weddell seals were also scattered around on the ice floes, with humpback whales blows also spotted in the Firth.
Tay Head was our destination, a pebble spit sticking out of Joinville Island. This was only the second time the MS Roald Amundsen had landed there as the frequent ice accumulation in the surrounding waters can make accessing the beach challenging. We were lucky and made it ashore where we all completed our by now routine observations on nesting Adelie penguins and their huge chicks. This colony is one of the most northern Adelie penguin colonies in the region! We also spotted at least three snowy sheathbills, the only species of land bird native to the Antarctic continent.
Kelp gulls, and brown skuas flew low over the colony and perched on rocky outcrops, looking for unattended nests, the latter replacing the similar polar skuas we saw earlier in the south. After our observations and penguin photoshoots were completed, we made our way back to the ship for a late lunch. We were all eager to replenish our energy in the form of various burgers at the ship’s Fredheim restaurant. It’s safe to say everyone enjoyed their food. We allowed our lunch to settle while sorting through recently collected data, with some previously unsighted Chinstrap penguins spotted swimming past the ship.
The ship then once again set sail to cross the Firth of Tay in a southerly direction to head south into the Weddel Sea. After an early dinner we made our way back onto deck 7 for a final marine mammal observation session. The weather was completely calm, but a thick fog had formed around the ship as we sailed further into the Weddell Sea. This region is less frequented by visitors and information on marine mammal distribution is thus even more precious. We were therefore very excited to observe multiple sleeping humpback whales while on effort. Due to the dense fog, we heard some of them (by their snorting exhalations) before we caught a glimpse of their backs at the surfgace. The memory of slowly cruising through a perfectly still Weddell Sea, as snoozing Humpbacks appeared out of the thick fog, will stay with us forever. And there is talk of another polar plunge tomorrow…