Antarctica Day 3
YANKEE HARBOUR
On our final day in the Antarctic, we knew the morning landing was likely to be our last wildlife spot. Having already seen so much wonderful wildlife and taken thousands of photos, we went ashore with the aim of relaxing, taking our time and just enjoying the walk and whatever we might see. On the one hand, I felt as though there couldn't be anything more we hadn't already seen, but, I also knew there were bound to be some surprises too.
Once more, we caught the last zodiac leaving the ship. We were welcomed onto land by the presence of this adult Weddell Seal. I just love those big dark eyes.
Further along the walk, we saw another seal sleeping on the pack ice in the bay just off shore. It was a Crabeater Seal - a new species for us. Unfortunately, its position lying down meant it was difficult to take any good photos and by the time we returned back that way, it had slipped into the water and disppeared.
It was no surprise we saw Gentoo Penguins on land as there's a large colony at Yankee Harbour. You can see in the photo just heavily the snow was falling. It only eased off occasionally.
Having seen lots of Brown Skuas, finally, on that last morning, we saw a South Polar Skua. It has a paler head and chest and, although you can't appreciate it in this photo, they're smaller and have distinctive white markings on the wings. Later in the morning, we saw one flying towards us and I could see the white in the wings then.
I really wanted to practice photographing the penguins porpoising, which is so difficult to capture. On this occasion, I had ample opportunity as there were several small groups of them working their way along the side of the beach. However, the snow was making it even more challenging than usual, as the camera sometimes struggled to focus on the penguins due to all the snow! This next photo was probably the best one!
There were often small groups of Gentoos waddling across the snow, making their way to the sea. I guess it makes sense to stay together this way, so when in the water there was safety in numbers.
They would often stop and look around before moving on.
Their red beaks really are so striking. It was fabulous to have a close up view inside the mouth of one whilst it was having a bit of a barney with one of the other penguins.
Why walk when you can slide? We'd seen a little sliding behaviour on the previous days, but there was noticeably more on this occasion. Then again, there was a lot more snow. It was probably the easiest and quickest way of moving about! It was fabulous to watch, how they would use their feet to push themselves along with some guidance with their flippers. They really were very quick!
There was plenty more courtship taking place, as was now customary with so many of the penguins at this time of year. I love this next photo as it looks like he's whispering sweet somethings into her ear. They do actually have ears, but no ear flaps. They only have small holes for hearing, which are covered by the feathers, which is why you can't see them.
His attention was working, as she soon assumed the lower position and he clambered on top of her back to mate with her. The male definitely needs good balancing skills!
Soon after, I saw two penguins walk swiftly past me. They were very well synchronised as they moved. I love this photo because it makes me think of ice skaters gliding in unison.
We eventually reached an end point that led to the bulk of the colony, from what we could make out. A mass of Gentoos lined the beach, with an impressive glacier in the background.
From there, we retraced our steps to the main path, intending to follow the loop trail around more of the colony, but we were side tracked and never made it any further. A few people ahead of us were standing looking at a group of penguins. Suddenly, I realised one of the penguins was different. It was an Adélie! Amazing! Talk about third time lucky! Finally, we were seeing one fairly close to us. I couldn't believe it. Most people had already left or had started walking back towards the zodiacs, so only a small number of us were lucky enough to see it.
It didn't linger long amongst the Gentoos and began walking, then sliding away. Unfortunately, there were a couple of people that were following it a bit too close for comfort, trying to take photos with their phones. I think some people just don't realise the impact their actions can have on wildlife. It makes me very grateful that I have a camera with a telephoto lens allowing me to capture these images without being too close.
When a little more space was given, the Adélie stopped and looked around, briefly glancing our way. It then began preening itself for a bit.
When it was ready to move on again, it lowered its belly to the ground and began sliding along the snow once more.
It repeated this process of stopping, preening, surveying, having a little shakedown and then moving on a few times. Occasionally, it would also vocalise.
It was wonderful experiencing these magical moments watching the penguin, before it eventually slid away. Bob and I were thrilled and so happy with this last sighting. It was time for us to leave and head back towards the zodiac.
Along the way, we saw a few small iceberg bits that had been washed ashore around the low lying spit of land that created the bay. The colour of the ice always amazes me.
We walked to a further point to be collected by the zodiac as the wind had changed direction. From where we waited we could see a mass of penguins in the bay congregating in one area. We weren't sure what was going on, but it must have been a bit of a feeding frenzy. Then, all of a sudden, I spotted a small group porpoising much closer towards us, following the line of the beach. Lovely!
Thankfully, the mass gathering of penguins in the water was still there when we were taken closer to them in the zodiac, before returning to the ship. It was amazing being surrounded by so many penguins just floating on the surface and occasionally dipping their head down or diving down. It was the first time of being at water level with so many of them, so close to us, and their not swimming away. I never imagined we'd have such a close encounter. One time a penguin popped up within a couple of metres from me (bottom photo). Wow! What a moment.
One of my fellow travellers, Dick, had a GoPro with him and he'd managed to video what was going on beneath the surface. He very kindly shared it with lots of us and said it was okay to share with you here. I'm thrilled you can see it because it really is quite wonderful! The next two videos are his.
Unfortunately, we had to return to the ship and leave the Gentoos behind. As the zodiac pulled away, we were followed by a few of them porpoising. I never tire of seeing this. It was truly magical! On my first zodiac cruise we had dolphins porpoising in front of us, and now we were coming to the end of our trip, we had penguins porpoising behind. What a spectacular ending! Another lady from our trip shared her phone video with us, which shows what it was like leaving.
I think Yankee Harbour was my favourite place on the whole trip!
There was one more place for us to visit, Deception Island, before we began our two day sail north again away from Antarctica. We followed the coastline of Livingston Island and amazingly, this time, we had some blue skies. Whilst there was still a lot of cloud hugging the mountains, it was lovely being able to appreciate the dramatic view.
If you look closely in the next photo, you can just see the mountain in the background covered by a glacier, behind the peaks in the foreground. It was a hint of what was hidden from view.
Just before we reached Deception Island, we had some more whale sightings. First was a pod of Orca Whales and they were clearly hunting the waters just around us. Just like before, their movements were totally unpredictable and we never knew where they'd resurface. I ended up moving to the back of the boat and not long after I also spotted two Humpback Whales together not that far away. In the photo you can see one is diving down and its characteristic humped back, whilst the other remained at the surface just to the right of it.
TELEFON BAY, DECEPTION ISLAND
Deception Island is a 10km wide caldera - a large bowl shaped depression created by a volcano collapsing in on itself after a major eruption. It occurred roughly 10,000 years ago and the sea flooded it. Despite it still being an active volcano, it's considered safe to sail right into the centre, which was a bit surreal. In the past, there has been science and military interest on the island, but it has been deserted since 1969 when the British Base was destroyed by volcanic eruptions.
There was another massive cruise ship in the harbour - the Roald Amundsen, which can carry 500 passengers in the Antarctic. Thankfully, we stayed well clear of it and its passengers walking around that part of the island. Just as an aside, I ought to point out that the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators have imposed restrictions, which means that only 100 passengers can land at any one time in one specific location. This is to help minimise the impact humans have on the fragile Antarctic environment.
We sailed on to Telefon Bay and had the place to ourselves. There was a lovely surprise when we landed - snow shoes were provided for us to explore up the hill. I've actually been snow shoeing once before with a friend of mine up in Canada, so it wasn't completely alien to me. It certainly made it easier to walk through the snow. It didn't take Bob long to get used to them either.
These photos aren't black and white! The landscape was just very stark.
There was little in the way of wildlife there, just a few birds flying around. In a way, it was nice to give the camera a bit of a break and enjoy our final walk in Antarctica.
Once we were back on board the Plancius, heading out through the entrance to the harbour, the sun began to break through the cloud and shone on the imposing sheer rock wall.
It continued to shine on the South Shetland Islands as we sailed away.
We were also treated to a beautiful sunset that evening, with an iceberg floating on the horizon. A fitting reminder of climate concerns and making me wonder what the future holds for Antarctica and the rest of the planet.
What a fabulous trip we'd had! We'd experienced so many amazing, unforgettable wildlife encounters. For me, the trip had far exceeded any of my expectations and the icing on the cake was being able to share it all with Bob. In a way, it was good that we had two more days at sea before reaching land again. It would give us a little time to soak it all in and prepare ourselves for civilisation again. We were heading to Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world at the bottom tip of South America. Many passengers were staying a few days to explore, which would have been great. But sadly, I had to get back for work.
Coming soon - the final blog in the series...The Return Journey!
To see a smaller selection of my favourite photos from the holiday, click here.
