Antarctica cruise

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Wednesday. In the morning we spent the morning in Dallman Bay viewing wildlife from the decks. There were many whales, several in pairs. One came up right in front of the bow and we saw the fluke as it dove. Part of its fluke was missing, from a propeller strike, one of the naturalists speculated. I think the whales were all humpbacks. Many penguin groups were swimming by, flying out of the water like dolphins.



In the afternoon we visited Orne Harbor on the mainland of the Antarctic Peninsula. At the landing point two chinstrap penguins were closely hanging out watching Tomski , the Polish crew member who is head of excursions, as he instructed the passengers on the details of our visit. The path was a steep zig-zag climb requiring hiking poles through the snow up to a saddle with rocks protruding along the ridge on both sides. At the top Nathan did the favor of taking a photo of a very handsome young man who had a fear of heights who then immediately went back down even though the ground beyond was relatively flat. Nathan and I walked further on and could see the water below on the other side. Nearby on the rocks was a penguin with a large chick. Another penguin came walking up through the snow from the other side of our ascent, hopped over the rocks, joined the other two and the two adults greeted each other loudly. Then the new arrival began feeding the chick from its gullet. The other penguin began bobbing its head left and right. It was amazing that the parent had gone fishing down in the water and then climbed that enormous height to share its catch with the chick. The descent felt perilous because of the steepness. A young man in front of us was having a hard time and the staff was looking after him. Nathan and I were the last passengers in line, staff followed us and gathered the flags which had marked our route.

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Photos

humpback whale
This whale surfaced right in front of the bow so that I was looking down on it. The white line is the railing on the forward deck.

humpback whale fluke
Half of the fluke is missing. A naturalist on board speculated that it had been cut by a ship's propeller.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Nice one
They are amazing.

[WilliamAtkins]

Thanks!

[Shara]

Love the photos
Thank you for sharing your blog with the amazing photos. Leaving for OAT adventure in Sicily Saturday, April 30th...returning May 15th.