It was another beautiful day in Antarctica---blue skies, puffy cumulous clouds, and an outside temperature of 46 degrees…summer in Antarctica. We disembarked in Neko Harbor on the Antarctic Peninsula. Marjorie Handel and I marked the occasion with this photograph:
I must admit, I did feel a certain sense of elation. I still can’t believe my travels have taken me to all seven continents. When I look at a map, there are still so many places I want to go-- it’s a big world out there. We had our obligatory pictures taken with a sign welcoming us to the Antarctic continent and headed up the hill to the Adelie Penguin colony overlooking Paradise Bay.
The penguins were nesting and the baby chicks were still under the protective care of mom or dad--it’s hard to tell the difference. Prior to my trip to Antarctica, my knowledge of penguins came from visiting the Penguin Encounter at Sea World. I was fascinated to learn that penguins spend 80 percent of their life in the water, only coming ashore for courting, mating, nesting and the incubation period that consists of warming and hatching the eggs.
To my surprise, most of the penguins had two chicks. Penguins live in a very democratic society. The mates share the duties of incubating the eggs and feeding their young. Baby chicks are so cute. They’re born with a thin layer of downy feathers and look absolutely nothing like their parents. The funniest behavior is when the parent comes ashore to feed their young. It calls its chicks and waits for an answering call from the offspring. Apparently, parents and chicks can recognize each other’s calls, enabling each parent to locate and feed the right chick. The chicks run after the parent until the parent finally stops and regurgitates the partially digested food into the chick’s mouth.
Yum! It certainly doesn’t sound very appetizing, but it’s fascinating to watch. What’s even funnier is when chicks, not belonging to a particular penguin, join the chase. If chicks are hungry, and their parents have not returned with food, they look for any port in the storm, or any penguin that has food.I never realized that penguins were so vocal or so loud. At one point, a Brown Skua (a large gull-like bird) flew over the colony, and all hell broke loose. Apparently, Skuas prey on penguin eggs and chicks, and the nesting penguins were not happy.
We spent the morning enjoying the penguins. Several members of the group hiked up to the top of the ridge that provided a panorama of Paradise Bay. I had to laugh. I was used to seeing little black dots of far-off penguin colonies and now I was seeing little red dots, as the hikers, in their red parkas, got closer to the top.
In the afternoon we were off again for a Zodiac cruise around Paradise Bay, a protected natural harbor surrounded by hanging ice cliffs and huge mountains of ice. We cruised around the harbor as the guides pointed out several ice caves in the glacier face. The shades of blue on the glacier ice are unbelievable, from a light turquoise to deep cobalt. As we sat for a few minutes to appreciate the shear beauty of our surroundings, we could hear the thunder and cracking of glacial calving. For a moment, I felt I was watching a National Geographic special and someone had turned up the soundtrack.
We were on the lookout for wildlife, and weren’t disappointed. Our guides pointed out a colony of blue-eyed shags nesting on the cliff ledges. We saw several different types of seals including the Weddell seal, a Crabeater seal and a Leopard seal. Seals are solitary mammals and spend the majority of their life at sea. For most seals, their diets consist of krill and fish. The Leopard seal also eats penguins and other seals. According to our naturalist guide, the Leopard seal has gotten a bad rap. Even though they lay in wait for penguins as they swim to and from their colonies, only a small percentage makes this a habit. I’m sure the penguins appreciate that.On my second trip to Paradise Bay, several days later, we encountered a pod of Minke whales that seemed to be playing a game of cat and mouse with the Zodiacs. Once the whales were sighted, several Zodiacs came into the area. The whales were delighted with the crowd and performed magnificently. Even the Zodiac drivers and guides were duly impressed.
Back on the ship, we changed from our “Michelin Man” look to less cumbersome outdoor attire. Karen Mahmoudi and I took advantage of the photo op:
It was so beautiful outside, the dining room staff decided to have a barbecue dinner on the pool deck. As a native Californian, I don’t exactly consider 46 degrees Fahrenheit barbecue weather, but I thoroughly enjoyed the barbecued ribs, chicken and steaks, taking my plate inside to find a place to sit in the Veranda dining room.We continued south and were up bright and early the following morning to enjoy the scenery as we sailed through the Neumayer Channel on our way to Port Lockroy (on Wienke Island), the home of the British Research station.
The British established Base A at Port Lockroy in 1944 to support geological and geographical fieldwork in the region. Abandoned for many years, the British returned in 1996, repaired the station, and established a museum to provide visitors an impression of life and conditions at an Antarctic station in the early 50’s and 60’s.
The station is staffed only during the summer months.Port Lockroy was a favorite stop for the group. There is a large colony of Gentoo penguins that nest very close to the British station. The penguins are accustomed to the presence of humans and we were able to get right next to the penguins and their chicks.
Also, Port Lockroy has a post office; this is the place you mail postcards postmarked Antarctica. And, they sold souvenirs. It had been several days since the group got to shop and they were delighted. We all got into the swing of things and purchased pins, patches and maps of the area.
Our excitement for the afternoon was watching the captain navigate through the narrow Lamaire Channel. On the previous cruise, there had been too much ice and their way was blocked by a huge tabular iceberg. The rock walls of the channel were steep, rising almost perpendicular to the narrow channel. Growlers and bergie bits (icebergs that have melted into smaller ice flows) were all over the place. Once through the channel, I felt I had entered a white fairyland. Icebergs of all sizes and shapes were everywhere. It looked surreal and reminded me of a Salvador Dali panting. It’s even more amazing in a Zodiac; you feel microscopic next to an iceberg the size of a football field or a three-story building, and that’s only what we see above the water line.At our furthest southern point (our latitude was 65-07S) we were near Peterman Island at the southern end of the Lemaire Channel. For a point of reference ,the Antarctic Circle is at latitude 66-33S.
As we turned around and exited the channel, I felt a sense of sadness. The trip was already half over; we were now heading north toward Deception Island. Join me next week as we take a dip in the thermal waters of Pendulum Cove and continue our way north back through the Drake Passage.
Want to join Bill Handel on his trip to the Antarctic? We are currently taking reservations:
No comments:
Post a Comment