twangster

The anchor dropped and we had arrived.

Well hello!

Penguins were using the ice sheets for a rest and safe haven from any leopard seals that may be about.

Nothing like a massive ship approaching to wake you from your slumber.

To the water!

Looking aft from where we came I could see how the bridge team had picked their way through the pieces of ice in the sound.

Our destination for today lies ahead.

To get there we negotiated our way around more icebergs.

Eager to cast my eyes upon the Antarctic Sound I ventured up to deck 9 forward.

The story of today, or much of it, involves ice.  There was no shortage of ice in the sound.

A quick note about the sites that we will visit in Antarctica.  

They determine the sites that will be visited a day or so before we visit them.  Weather changes rapidly.  Ice conditions change daily.   They don't know exactly where they will or can take expedition tours that far in advance.  Instead they pick from sites that are available, or they hope will be available, for the conditions that day.  

The sites I visit on this voyage may be the same or different from other voyages in the past or future. 

Day Thirteen - Brown Bluff and Hope Bay, Antarctica

Position report:

Daily briefing for tomorrow was held earlier.

The goal is to make Brown Bluff in the morning and Hope Bay in the afternoon.

A pretty spectacular sunset to end a fantastic day.

How often do you get an iceberg in your sunset pictures?

Very calm seas tonight.

Just wow!

What a day.  Beautiful weather at Point Wild.  A whale extravaganza.  Walking on Elephant Island.  Wow!

Can it get any better? 

The sail away brought more whale sightings.  At one point I walked into my suite and there were two whales right there just off my balcony.

After a short time on the beach it was back to the ship.

Kayaking is equally rare here.  Theres from the Kayak team had told me yesterday it has been once in six years for her.  Today would make number two.  

Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins can be found here. 

Elephant seals resting on the beach.

Landing on Elephant Island is so rare many of the expedition team have never been able to do so in five or more years.

We were very lucky today. 

Not only would we have a zodiac tour but we would be able to land on Elephant Island today.

If a penguin sees its own shadow does that mean six more weeks of summer?  I'm not sure it saw its shadow.

Eventually we started making our way closer to the island.

An Antarctic Shag photobombed my picture.

The water was so clear I could see a penguin swimmming just under the surface.

It was bitterly cold with the windchill from the moving ship in the wind but there were so many whales.

The scenery was pretty outstanding as well.

We had been informed this was a whale hotspot.  It was.

There were some penguins out here as well.

They were everywhere and all around.

Some near.  Some far.

Whales to the left and whales to the right.

I have never seen so many whales in one location before.  It went on for hours.

Sailing along the coast of Elephant Island was beautiful.

But also very cold in the wind.

Despite the cold we were out here for a reason.  Whales.

Departing from Point Wild yielded one more chance to capture the Chinstrap in action.

Such a great weather day!

Here is a 360 photo from Point Wild.

Point Wild, Elephant Island 360 Photo

I received a phone call in my suite between stops.

Remember that silent auction for the South Georgia Heritage Trust?

I won... the most expensive bottle of whiskey I've ever purchased.

Buy hey, it's for a great organization and a pretty cool bottle.

Our zodiac ride this morning:

17 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

You must have a long pole.

 

The photo looking back at ship appears to be a great distance away. 
 

Mind if one man asks another the length? 

Six inches.

On the departure from Point Wild we had been informed we would sail through a whale hotspot.  They didn't lie.

I spent a lot of time up top until I was so cold I couldn't stay longer.  I've still need to go through those pictures.  

Coming soon...

Anyone fancy a shag?

The Antarctic Shag.

Time to head back to the ship.

Stunning scenery.