Jan. 19 Antarctica Day 4

 Sunrise 3:42

0C, breezy and sunny skies

At 6:30 am we were heading slowing toward the Chilean Base in Maxwell Bay on King George Island. The plan was for an air ambulance to arrive by 8 am with paramedics on board. A Chilean zodiac would bring the paramedics to the ship to evaluate the patient and transport them to the plane for their flight to Chile.  We could see a lit runway, but did not see the plane land. It would have been an interesting landing as the runway was anything but level. If you zoom in on the photo you can see the runway lights in the top right. 


There are 9 research stations on King George Island - Poland, Chile, Uruguay, Russia, China, South Korea, Peru, Argentina, Brazil and the USA. Assisting ships with a medical issue is not expected of them as it disrupts their research activities. However, the Chileans were willing to provide the zodiac and personnel to facilitate the evacuation. It is the first time Holland America has had to do such a medical evacuation and it took a great deal of coordination, not to mention the additional cost to deviate from the itinerary and then have to sail hard to catch up to the itinerary. Speed = increased fuel consumption = increased cost. 

We were able to set sail again around 9:15 am. We passed a Gentoo penguin rookery on the way out of the harbour. We caught our first glimpse of chicks in the rookery. It looked like one adult had been left to watch over half a dozen chicks. 



We headed northeasterly toward Elephant Island, seeing whales along the way. Elephant Island is named for the elephant seals that make their home there. It is also where Shackleton and his crew found refuge after the sinking of the Endurance. Unfortunately, as we approached the island, the fog and mist rolled in and it was pretty difficult to see much.

Sunset 9:34 pm

NB: The Expedition Team made a correction in whale identification. What they thought were fin whales the other day have been determined to be humpbacks. 

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