New Year in Paradise
After a celebratory New Years, we woke up bright and early in anticipation of our arrival in Paradise Bay and our morning Zodiac boat tour of the area. Outside our cabin window was our first true view of Antarctica! During breakfast, we watched passing icebergs and mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula as well as the occasional penguin.
After donning enough layers to make ourselves feel like penguins, we launched in Zodiacs from Deck 3 to begin our tour of Paradise Bay. From the water, with wind in the face, we had excellent views of the surrounding snowy and craggy gray peaks, sparkling icebergs in their various textures and hues of blue, brash ice creaking and clacking on the water, and the ever-changing clouds. We could also see the pink and brown snow algae on the mountains, tiny Wilson’s storm petrels and Antarctic terns flying overhead, and Gentoo penguins porpoising out of the water.
As we continued the tour, we approached the Chilean base of Gonzales (the flag flying outside the main building indicated that someone was home). Gentoo penguins have also made this place their home with their nests scattered around the base building and onto the rocky outcrops. We viewed Gentoos hopping between rocks, preening, flapping their wings, sitting on nests, and otherwise engaging in normal day-to-day penguin activities. We also saw a female (or juvenile male) Southern Elephant Seal resting on the rocks near the colony, during its annual catastrophic skin molt! The penguins were unbothered by its presence, walking right past its snout on their way to and from the water.
In the afternoon, we arrived at Orne Harbor and stepped foot onto the Antarctic continent for the first time as we hiked a steep 100m to view the chinstrap penguin colony at the top of the ridge. It was my first time hiking in snow and using hiking poles. Though it is not currently encouraged to sit on the snow in Antarctica due to avian influenza regulations, it was an inevitable consequence of falling during the hike. At least we wore so many layers that it was a soft landing!
The chinstrap penguins were “smellable” before they were visible, and their colony was the location for our first penguin behavior observations. Some of us observed nests with small chicks visible on occasion under the protective cover of a parent bird, while others had sleepy or aggressive penguins. One had a pebble stolen from its nest. The penguin that Lilli and I watched was quite lazy, not even bothering to stand up from its nest to attack a neighbor with its beak, though it was surprisingly alert for the entire observation period. In contrast, its neighbors were engaging in “bowing” behaviors, indicating that they were mates.
Back on the ship, we debriefed about the data collection, and after such a long climb and seeing so many “bergy bits” and ice throughout the day, it seemed unreal that we had woken up in Paradise Bay only this morning.
With expedition spirit,
~Larissa
Elephant seals are so cool! They have it pretty tough on land with their fierce mating rivalries and their obligatory catastrophic molt. Their ability to use their nasal membrane to create a blowing noise is breathtaking, a true testament to the ingenuity that can be found in life. The hiking and penguin observation sound incredibly interesting. I personally love hiking, particularly in winter conditions though I can't imagine how tough it must be for penguins to huddle in these conditions.