ANTARCTICA

 Our landing for Feb 12 at Half Moon Island in the South Shetlands was cancelled due to sudden high winds, so we don't have any photos of our own to post.  Fortunately, other passengers have posted photos on a special facebook page of chinstrap penguins and fur seals they saw on the island.  I've also included additional photos of other wildlife seen during our expedition trip. It was certainly a trip of a lifetime!  We have now been to all 7 continents.  Antarctica is special, unique, and unlike any other place on earth. I will warn you, though, getting here is not easy.  We took a 12 hour charter flight from Miami, FL to Ushuaia, Argentina.  It takes 2+ days to traverse the Beagle Channel out of Ushuaia and the Drake Passage to get to the Antarctic Peninsula.  The sea can be rough. But it was worth every inconvenience to be able to see this special place. The Viking Octantis carries 328 passengers (we had 283 on our cruise) and 261 crew Not sure...

 What a difference a day makes!  Yesterday we had beautiful sunny weather, today it has been overcast with intermittent snow.  We did a zodiac exploration (no landing) of Enterprise Bay, which was popular for whaling in the early 1900s.  Whaling has now been banned by all but 3 countries: Iceland, Japan, and Norway.   We got to see the remnants of the Gouvernoren ship, which burned and partially sank in 1916.  Arctic terns now use the vessel as a summer home. There is also a small colony of cormorants nesting in the rocks.  While out in the bay, a "hospitality" zodiac staffed by the ships's general manager, Sujit, was available to provide champagne and macarons.  What a treat on a cold, snowy day in Antarctica! Cormorants with chick Arctic tern visiting for Antarctic summer - they migrate further than any animal shipwreck of the Gouvernoren, a whaling ship; 800 miles away from the Shipwrecked Endurance fur seal spent 1.5 hours on the water du...

Today was a glorious day in Paradise Bay -- sunny, 35 F, no wind, and water as smooth as glass.  We did a 9:00 am landing at Brown Station, a small Argentine research station that is not open this season due to Covid. Here there was a small colony of Gentoo penguins, some of which are molting.  While molting, they cannot enter the water, as they are in the process of replacing ALL their feathers. A few facts about Antarctica: - the highest, driest, coldest, windiest and brightest of the 7 continents - roughly the size of the US & Mexico combined - 90-95% of its surface is covered by snow and ice that is more than 1 mile in thickness - no country "owns" Antarctica - it is governed by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 - there are no trees here now, but you can find red and green algae  - expedition ships to Antarctica must follow policies set forth by IAATO, the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators; only 100 guests can land at a site at any one time, so we h...

 We are at Hidden Bay, on the northeast coast of Kiev Peninsula, latitude 65.02 S (the Antarctic circle is latitude 66.5S).  There are a lot of small icebergs in the bay from recent glacier calving, so our zodiac exploration started out slowly.  We will not do a landing today, as there are no flat beach areas. The bay is surrounded by tall, snow-covered mountains. Then we had a bit of excitement!  A leopard seal (known to be aggressive) started circling our zodiac, then bit the side of the boat.  We started to lose air, so were transferred to another zodiac.  It's hard to describe how majestic the landscape is down here.  A photo doesn't do it justice

Quick trip to Danco Island in the southern part of the Errera Channel, off the west coast of Graham Island. Sadly, the number of chicks and nesting partners of Gentoo penguins here is lower than normal due to too much snow during breeding time.  Member of Oceanities, a non-profit that counts penguins, is on the ship with us.   The wind picked up and the clouds settled in around 12:30pm, so we hustled back to the ship.  Now on our way through the Gerlache strait to a new location.  

 We spent today in Neko Harbor on the northern Antarctic peninsula.  There are 5 species of penguins that live in Antarctica -- we will see primarily Gentoos on this trip.  The babies are about 1/2 the size of their parents and are still being fed by mom.  After they molt in a few months, they will go to the sea to learn to swim and feed, then return to this location in 4 years to breed. The penguin colony was up on a rocky cliff.  They use deep grooves in the snow, called penguin "highways" to get down to the water.  We were told to avoid stepping in the highways and to stay at least 15 feet from the animals.  There was also a weddle seal and elephant seal near our landing.