Antarctica Cruise Day 8

Today was a busy day with a small amount of sailing. We started in Paradise Bay visiting the Argentine base, Base Brown. At the base there were a ton of Gentoo penguins. The navy blue and red base was well kept, but those staying at the base weren't here. It's an active base. Apparently, many years ago, a doctor stationed here was told he had to do a second winter season when he originally didn't have to, so he burned the base down to get back home to his girlfriend (a rumor, but he did burn it down). He was put in prison, but at least he didn't have to winter in Antarctica again 🤷‍♀️.

We made a steepish hike up to a viewpoint that overlooked the bay. While we were up there we saw several humpback whales as well as some orcas. The view with the icebergs and the mountains coupled with the whales was captivating. We opted not to kayak, and we saw the kayakers trying to kayak towards the whales unsuccessfully, so we felt secure in our decision to stick to land. While on our two zodiac trips we also saw some seals, weddell and crab eater, and at the last minute before circling to get back on the ship, a humpback whale swam right next to our zodiac. I've never been so close to a whale in my life.

After lunch we had some downtime while we made the short trip away from the bay to Port Lockroy, a British base. Port Lockroy and nearby Jougla Point were packed with Gentoo penguins. It was very difficult at times to maintain our distance with the penguins. We first stopped in at Poet Lockroy where the penguin post office is located as well as a museum and a gift shop. Allan and I sent some postcards and couldn't resist the allure of the unique Antarctica tartan. I got a scarf and he bought a tie to wear with his kilts (I can't wait to see him wear it 🥰). Much like Base W that we saw a few days ago, the museum reflected what life was like for early scientists with a small kitchen and lounge area, rooms for research, and a bunk area (although this bunk area was definitely more PG 13 than the other one). We waded back through the nesting gentoos and headed over to Jougla.

When disembarking at Jougla, Sarah, a guide, told us we had about an hour to spend on the small island teeming with gentoos. Allan and I both expected this to be a quick visit with no hike, tiny space, and only penguins to see. However, all the different behaviors of the penguins were incredibly interesting. Early on we saw a leucistic penguin, so it has no black pigment. This occurs one in every 20,000 penguins. We also watched as many penguins lay on their nests with their two eggs, and other penguins came and stole pebbles to place on their own nest. Some penguins were even fighting over a pebble spot. Other penguins just had to nip at the pebble pinchers from their nests while they protected the eggs. We also saw some two day old chicks. And had the special privilege of watching parents switch over nest responsibility which only happens once a week. This particular location was incredible to see so many different things from the penguins that it makes me wonder just how much I don't understand about penguins and all the other animals of the world. It's humbling, and rewarding at the same time to be able to witness all of these different things.

After briefing and recap, we had a BBQ buffet for dinner. I definitely preferred the Asian buffet yesterday. I also managed to finish my third book, Verity, just before dinner. Following dinner there was a short documentary on whale sharks that Sofie, a guide, was a part of. It really cemented the idea of just how little I, but also us as humans, understand about the world's creatures. The documentary highlighted the efforts to tag and gather data on whale sharks because so little is known about them, and there is still not a lot we know of why they do certain behaviors, or travel to certain places. They don't even know where whale sharks breed. The female sharks tend to like the Galapagos Islands, which was pretty cool to say that we had been there. After this trip, I think I'll be having many moments of reminiscing. I can't wait to share everything I've learned as well.Leggi altro