So I forgot that we went home to a penguin in our room last night!
Another glorious day, excited to see our first iceberg and who knew 15 degrees could seem like a heatwave? Everyday brings new OMG moments and we continue to pinch ourselves.
How big? Added a zodiac which helps.
Another gorgeous bay.
Shackleton and his two men descended Breakwind Ridge to the west of Fortuna Bay, crossed the beach at Whistle Cove and continued east towards the whaling station on the final leg of their island crossing. Today, Fortuna Bay is both scenic and abundant in wildlife. It is home to a colony of king penguins, located 1 km inland from Whistle Cove in the outwash plain below König Glacier.
So can you believe that some people were a bit ho hum about the fact today’s morning excursion was to see more fur seals and king penguins as if they had ticked that box and didn’t need to see more. 🤭 However this was a different thing as there were many more elephant seals and also many fur seal pups learning how to swim in some onshore pools.
I did restraint myself a bit in the photo department only 74 taken and 36 kept. The wind was actually warm and some of the gusts were so strong I thought I was going to lose my footing.
Found a feeding pup. He ran out of milk and wanted more so tried to get his Mum to turn over.
Swimming school is in.
Yes there are penguins here too.
And pintail ducks.
Guides pointed out some lenticular clouds which were an indication of incredibly high winds.
The fact Shackleton was here was a thrill for us. If I haven’t told you before we recommend “Endurance” by Alfred Lansing a definite must read if you are coming here and you MUST come down here.
You do see the odd dead pup or penguin but not as many as I had thought we might see. The green colours here were fascinating. No this one is not dead.
Spotted these antlers. One of the guides thought they looked recent though deer are supposed to be eradicated now.
Our guides on the zodiacs are all so well trained and talk to us all the time, the education has been fabulous. Also saw a sealers cave, now, ironically, filled with seal pups.
Spoke to Fabrice (ornithologist), on return about this unusual mark, (dark mark on the side), on a king penguin. He thought it would be a fur seal attack but the penguin looks healthy and feathers are growing back so a lucky miss, probably at least twelve months ago.
The elephant seals are young ones and fasting. They were fed by their mothers for four weeks and then they are left until they lose enough weight and their moult is finished and then they start hunting for themselves.
Cheryl and mike were part of our cruising party today.
Always seals around and I finally managed to catch one with their head up – at last!
When we return to the ship they start by spraying our boots with a high pressure hose, then we walk through a solution (Virkon) before heading back to the mud room. We need to use the stations to ensure every speck of mud, seeds, sand and pebbles are removed before the next excursion. Garrie has taken on this task for both of us whilst I sort out the hundreds of photos and recharge the camera gear for the next amazing trip. This afternoon is Grytviken which we can’t wait for. Ciao for now.
Antarctica 2019 