First Landings in Antarctica

Monday dawned clearer than anyone expected, and when we woke at 5:30 so we could be ready for our 6:45 tour call, we were already sailing along the edge of the pack ice that normally fills much of the Weddell Sea. Larry Hobbs and the expedition team couldn't believe the weather. In fact, Larry had said that if he had one day like this one in every three TRIPS he thought they were doing very well weather-wise. And to top it off, they had picked up some very interesting animal life in their binoculars!

This morning we would not be landing as such, but would be taking Zodiac tours along the edge of the ice to see what we could find.

So, of course, we now had the first test of the cold-weather gear we all had to buy for this trip: long underwear, hiking socks, waterproof pants, gloves and glove liners, warm hats, etc. It sure took longer than usual to get dressed! And then, of course we had our rubber boots (that we rented through A&K), our parkas and our life vests. Heaven forbid anybody needed to go to the bathroom in a hurry after they got all kitted up!!

And of course we also had to have protective gear for our camera equipment, which for the most part consisted of shower caps – light enough to protect from water, but thin enough to be able to manipulate the camera controls.

As our international-distress orange groups assembled in the salon, we were taken down the stairs to the 'marina' or what we would call the 'swim platform' to load into the Zodiacs for our ride. Since the weather was so nice, the water was quite calm, which meant we didn't have to worry about carrying the cameras in backpacks until we got to where we were going.

Among the various birds and animals we saw were Snow Petrels – fairly small seabirds, pure white, that you will only find around a lot of ice; Crabeater Seals – pretty big actually, and they don't eat crabs but krill and fish; Adelie Penguins – pure black and white, and to top it off: Emperor Penguins – the kind from 'Happy Feet' with the yellow/orange patch on the neck. The Emperors were the biggest surprise for the naturalists. They usually colonize well south of where we were, around the perimeter of the continent, but they had recently found a breeding colony on Snow Hill Island, very close to where we were. In total there were about six Emperors hanging around with the Adelies.

Here are some photos from the morning's excursion:

The 'march of the Adelies'

Emperor Penguins

Then, in the afternoon, we moved on to Paulet Island, where there is a colony of 100,000 breeding pairs of Adelie Penguins.

The passengers have been divided into two groups (with either a red or a green sticker on their key cards) which identifies when they go out for excursions. In order to be fair, one day the red group goes first in the morning and second in the afternoon, and the next day it is reversed – so that everybody gets the chance to get up early to prepare for a tour! It can make for a pretty long day, as we discovered.

The morning's weather held fairly well for the green group (the OTHER guys) to get out for their landing; by the time we got out to land it was just after 5:00 and we had an hour and a half to wander around. We climbed over fist-sized stones and some snow to get around the area, stopping to take a look at the remains of a stone hut built by a group of sailors/explorers when they were stranded for a winter in 1902. Now penguins nest all around and on top of it.

A penguin checking the 2 eggs it is incubating

One of the naturalists had also spotted some chicks that hatched a few days early. We found her and she pointed out the two mothers and the pair of chicks each one was brooding. Apparently, once the first ones hatch, all of the others – and there were plenty of nests – hatch within a few days of each other. Boy, will it be noisy then!

Penguins on the beach

Mom and her 2 chicks

We had been out for about 45 minutes and were heading toward the beach to watch the penguins there when we came across one of the naturalists in a little predicament. There was an older passenger who was having trouble negotiating the stones on the way down the hill. So we gave them a hand down to the beach, where we discovered that the seas had changed dramatically and they couldn't take us back to the ship from the place they had landed us! They have an alternate landing site in a more sheltered spot, but that was a good mile or so around the island, and that's where they told us to go. So we helped Juan escort this lady all the way around the beach, well within the 15 foot clearance we're supposed to give the animals, but they didn't seem to mind.

It was in some cases quite fortunate, since we probably saw some animals that the first group, who didn't walk that far, didn't get to see. We passed Blue-Eyed Shags – long-necked black and white seabirds that look like geese when they fly; more Penguins going in and out of the water, and a few Weddell Seals. Because we were busy helping this lady, Larry didn't get any video, but Monica managed to take a few photos along the way.

A Weddell Seal

A penguin in the suf