Shari

The Antarctic Marine Patrol were busting zodiac drivers who were going too fast near the penguins. 
 


Actually it was just ship crew operating a bar zodiac offering hot chocolate and mulled wine.

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.

 

A23a is a very large iceberg that broke off in 1986.  It quickly grounded and stayed in place until 2020 when it floated free and began moving.  Over the course of 2023 it has really picked up steam and began making a move North to where we found it, or the Captain and bridge team found it, today.

It's hard to capture the scale of an iceberg this large.  It just goes on and on.

Once again the deck 5 bow area was open for our viewing pleasure.



There is little point trying to capture all of it in a photo because you can't unless you are in space which is where scientists are following it using satellites.  It's 3,900 square kilometers or 1,500 square miles in size.






Naturally I brought my 360 camera with me.

Top side on whale watch this afternoon.


In the distance appeared a mirage that almost looked like land yet I knew there was no land out here.


More small bits of ice were present in this area.


The wind was ferocious but that isn't a mirage. 

It's a really big iceberg.


It's iceberg A23a.

Round two of the seabird soaring competition started this morning.



A new player has entered the arena.

It has the appearance of a petrel but I can't find a good match online.  


Slightly larger than the Cape Petrel.



I'll have to ask later.

The Captain had suggested earlier to expect a slight increase in swell to 4m.  It arrived late afternoon or early evening.
After dinner I saw dozens of seabirds playing along the waves and soaring between the peaks and troughs.  Collectively as a group they moved along the surface hardly ever flapping their wings.  It was quite mesmerizing to watch.

I have found references to Antarctic Petrels and to Cape Petrels. 

I think they may be Cape Petrels.

Very striking patterns.

An Antarctic Prion following a petrel.  This gives you an idea of the size difference.

It was getting dark and I've pushed the ISO of my camera to have any sort of shutter speed to work with but the results are evident.  I'll try again tomorrow in the daylight if they are still out there.

Until tomorrow it's another beautiful night aboard the Silver Wind.

Our afternoon at Gold Harbor is now complete.  With two sea days coming up I’m taking the night off from this thread.  I will continue with our Gold Harbor visit tomorrow.  
More to come…
Live as it gets, from the Silver Wind.  

The 10 drink card was available starting on Day 4 on Wonder for Christmas sailing (Dec 23 - Dec 30).

It's a Leopard seal and it's hunting.




Leopard seals eat King penguins and this seal is not going away hungry today.  It's got one.


Andrew tells us this is pretty rare here.  Something he might see twice a season.



They grow up to 3m long.




While a King penguin didn't survive the day, this is nature and it's all part of the food chain.

Wow.  Pretty cool.

We are spending the night at anchor at Grytviken.  There no sense having the bridge team work all night dodging icebergs at slow speed.
Later in the evening I went topside.

I spotted several icebergs and... a cruise ship.

Silver Cloud I presume.  Only had my phone with me.

There are three landing sites open in South Georgia.  We are making two of them.  We also had or will have zodiac tours of other South Georgia areas (more to come). 
I don't mind the zodiac tours.  In the Galapagos we had incredible zodiac tours.  Would I prefer landing?  Of course.  But the Avian flu has been devastating to wildlife so it is understandable why we are doing zodiac tours.   
One of the South Georgia sites was removed from our itinerary due to weather.  That would have occurred flu or no flu.  Such is expedition cruising.  
Stick around until I complete our South Georgia visit.

Those pups 😍😘

Hours later the weather had changed and it was snowing pretty good.  Finally our group number was called.





We leave our life jackets with the excursion team and head up the path to meet a guide who will escort us to the penguin colony.
These little guys were watching us from a few feet away.

Like the penguins we join the Silversea highway and make off across the tundra.

Everywhere around us are penguins and fur seals.

The order of the groups has me last today resulting in a more leisurely morning.  Yesterday in the first grouping made for a rushed breakfast. 
Apparently there was some drama recovering the zodiac tours when that snow arrived yesterday. That storm also brought 40 knot winds and it was difficult to move guests from the zodiacs to the ship.  The ship had to reposition and another attempt was made.  Guests were stuck on the zodiacs briefly where they broke out the cold weather emergency kit and passed out hand warmers.  They also have a routine which includes exercise to keep the blood moving.  Eventually everyone was brought back on board safely.  I missed all this drama being in the first grouping yesterday.
It goes to show you should always prepare for the worst and fully dress out despite what the weather looks like outside the window. 
Time for some breakfast.

@twangster ... your pictures are always awesome and inspiring.
It is official ... we will not be bringing our cameras on our Antarctica cruise in January.  Instead, would you be so kind to:
1). Take lots of pictures of:
Gerlache Strait Paradise Bay Schollaert Channel & Dalhan Bay Elephant Island Cape Horn 2). I like Icebergs and my soulmate loves wildlife.  A good mix will add to the illusion that they are our pictures.
3). To cement the illusion ... Superimpose the likeness of my soulmate and I on the best of the pictures in each location.  Use stock photos of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.  We are not "exactly" twins, but our friends are not that observant.
😉
... or just keep doing what you are doing, whatever is easiest.
😂
Curt from Canada
 
 

Some 360° camera photos from Cooper Bay.
Cooper Bay 360 Photo #1
Cooper Bay 360 Photo #2

Back on board I grabbed the map to show the location of our first stop at South Georgia Island.

Looks like the icebergs are ganging up on us forming a blockade.

I've heard when in Rome one should do as the Romans.  In South Georgia I decided to do like the penguins and eat outside.  Lunch at The Grill.  

As I sat there Bing Crosby came over the speakers singing "White Christmas".  Then it started to snow.   Well played Bing.  Well played.


The last of the zodiacs were coming back.





Once everyone was back on board and with snow increasing they have announced there will be a change in the afternoon plans.  Details coming at 14:00.

OMG, how cute is this ??

As we got closer to Cooper Bay land was emerging through the mist.






All around the ship marine life was seen.  From seals, whales and penguins it was quite active.



Penguins are fast!  I was lucky with this shot.

Of course more icebergs.

Finally we were close enough that the mist faded and we could see the green land of South Georgia Island.

Those temps!!! Yikes! One would think you were back in Canada lol
I am likely in the minority here, but I find the iceberg shots more fascinating than the birds.
Also, Merry Christmas my friend! 🎄💚

Update: Looks like we are proceeding with the planned zodiac landing.

Yes it is normal.  However in this instance we requested a certain area and showed up just before our 6:45pm reservation time (the first time available for MTD) and said we could wait until it was available.  Also the head of that area had put a notation in our reservation for where to seat us.  
 

Luckily we should not have to pay for flights. We have points! 🙂 🙂 🙂 

We have done Alaska 3 times it is our favorite place to cruise. Once on a Quantum class and 2 on Radiance.  Radiance and Serenade allow all ages to swim in the Solarium at specified times.  We are older so we preferred Radiance over the Quantum class.  However, with children, either is great.  You may want to do the Serenade or Quantum itinerary due to flight costs, roundtrip cheaper than multi-city.