Jan. 17 Antarctica Day 2

Sunrise 3:45 am

1C, overcast and slight breeze

If yesterday was wow, today was WOW! The weather has continued to be quite overcast, so we don’t always get the best views of the landscape. We see lots of icebergs and shoreline, that is glaciers falling into the ocean, but we don’t see the tops of the mountains often. 




Our first stop of the day was Culvervile Island and its Gentoo penguin rookery. They estimate that there are 7000 penguins nesting on the rocky promontories. It was interesting to see the red lichen and green moss growing on the island. 


Even from a distance we could hear the noise from the penguins calling to each other. Some people said they could smell the guana. We watched penguins trudging their way up the glacier while others were diving into the ocean and speeding like a bullet through the water. The weather cleared enough that we were able to take in the beauty of the island. 


We then sailed into Dallman Bay where we encountered a mammoth tabular (tabletop) iceberg. The glacier flowed out of the water and tidal and wave action made it break off from the land. It was well over 100 feet tall, way taller than the ship. I heard that it was 2 miles long and 1/2 mile wide. 


As we were leaving the bay, we encountered 2 fin whales that arched and surfaced several times before raising their flukes and diving out of sight. 



From our balcony cabin, I watched as two penguins dozed on the top of an ice floe while a third kept trying to jump out of the water to join them. 




Dr. Adrian Corvino made a presentation called The ABC’s of Antarctica, From Auroras to Zucchinis. He had photos from the times he has spent working in Antarctica. He is a wonderful presenter - so obviously enthusiastic about the Antarctic. 

Shortly before 4 pm, it was announced that we would be entering Charlotte Bay where there are 5 large glaciers. We went to the viewing bow on our deck where we were entertained for over an hour by 2 humpback whales. They appeared to be a mother and perhaps a year old calf. The mother floated on top of the water while the youngster dove and bobbed around. The captain stopped the engines and the whales circled around our ship, totally unconcerned. There was total silence from the people on the decks as we watched the whales come right up to the ship. 

The captain later said he had never been so close to whales. 



As it turned out, the sea ice and fog would have made it impossible for us to venture into Charlotte Bay. Tonight we will sail northeast along the peninsula to arrive in Hope Bay tomorrow morning. 

We have not been overly enthused with the nightly entertainment, but the Canadian comedian, Doug Funk, had the audience in stitches with clean humour tonight. 


Sunset 11:03 pm


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