twangster Posted December 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 Off to the main beach. What a gorgeous day! King penguins wall to wall. Some elephant seals taking a break. Andrew thinks this may be the beach master. ScottishRobbie, DDaley, heffy2 and 10 others 11 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 It's difficult to capture in photos the shear numbers. Fur seals coming ashore. It's a penguin pool party! instaGator, heffy2, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 8 others 7 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 After an hour or so it was time to head back to the ship. SpeedNoodles, Lovetocruise2002, MaryS and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 Kayaker's had another outing today. The rest of the zodiac fleet coming home. Ampurp85, Lovetocruise2002, MaryS and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 As we began our departure from St Andrews Bay I was given a view towards the sea from my suite. You can't see it very well in the photo but the horizon is littered with icebergs. I'm so glad I upgraded to a balcony suite for this sailing. Not a bad place to post this thread from. We had an escort out of St Andrews Bay. More Kings. Our progression. Cactus527, MaryS, SpeedNoodles and 7 others 8 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 37 minutes ago, twangster said: It's difficult to capture in photos the shear numbers. I don't know...it looks like a whole lot of penguins to me! Also, RIP to that poor penguin that got eaten WAAAYTOOO and Ampurp85 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said: Are King penguins and Emperor penguins the same thing or a different variety ? Different species. No Emperor penguins in the South Georgia Islands. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 Those penguins in the fur coat look like they are going to a fancy party. Lovetocruise2002, twangster, WAAAYTOOO and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 1 minute ago, Ampurp85 said: Those penguins in the fur coat look like they are going to a fancy party. I guess that’s why sometimes people call a tuxedo a “penguin suit”. Ampurp85 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 15 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: I don't know...it looks like a whole lot of penguins to me! Also, RIP to that poor penguin that got eaten Estimated to be 100,000 mating pairs. Minus one. WAAAYTOOO, Ampurp85, Lovetocruise2002 and 2 others 1 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 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. Lovetocruise2002, Shari, Ampurp85 and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJL Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 Great job! You motivated me to blog our Silver Wind journey starting Jan. 6. Can compare! twangster, PPPJJ-GCVAB and Yesiamthere 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Day Nine continued... Gold Harbor, South Georgia Island Over the lunch break the ship sailed South along the coast of South Georgia Island. At lunch in The Restaurant I could see the ship approaching the coastline so I headed up to deck 9 forward. The weather was great but there was some wind. It was all so beautiful... We passed close by a small iceberg. Looking aft I could see the minefield of icebergs we had sailed through. Ampurp85, SpeedNoodles, ScottishRobbie and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Giant Petrels were soaring around the ship. These next shots were a challenge to capture. The wind was so strong outside on deck 9 forward it was hard to hold my camera steady. It felt like a massive chunk of glacier would fall at any moment. I could make out large numbers of something on the beach but we were too far to see any detail. Very different geology here. The wind. It so strong I could sense the bridge was testing it to see if it would be safe. I didn't think they could lower the zodiacs in this wind and I was all but convinced we would miss our visit so I headed down to my cabin to wait for the announcement. Then they announced they were sending out a scout. That gives us some hope. WAAAYTOOO, Skigoofy, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 6 others 7 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Then the announcement came that we are a go! They called multiple groups including mine first so off I went. They shortened the zodiac tours to 60 minutes to make sure everyone could participate in case the weather changed. The wind didn't seem that bad on the surface. A decent sized group of elephant seals occupied one end of the beach. SpeedNoodles, Ampurp85, Skigoofy and 5 others 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Elephant seals can dive to incredible depths but it tires them out so they head to the beach after a dive to rest and recover. Our driver tells us these are likely young males. Looking over to the glacial waterfall with a zodiac in the foreground seemed like a nice photo, then a fur seal photobombed it. From here we'll cruise over to the main beach. There was more evidence of the avian flu present and there were numbers of deceased penguins. It's very sad to see but this is why we can't make landings everywhere. As much as it's inconvenient for us it's devastating to many species here in South Georgia. This is the reality of the situation. The colony here is estimated to be around 25,000 mating pairs. Cactus527, Ampurp85, DDaley and 7 others 4 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 How a penguin enters the water... Waddle... Waddle... Getting ready to flop, gotta time it just right with the waves... Almost time... ... and flop. Paddle, paddle, paddle... Phew! Made it. More bergie bits present in this bay. Ampurp85, PPPJJ-GCVAB, SpeedNoodles and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 The hanging glacier is a dominant feature here at Gold Harbor. I kept waiting for a chunk to break off. Didn't happen. Lovetocruise2002, Ampurp85, MaryS and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Kelp gulls. One of the only gulls found in South Georgia. PPPJJ-GCVAB, SpeedNoodles, Lovetocruise2002 and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Our hour is up and it's time to make our way back to the Silver Wind. Skigoofy, MaryS, SpeedNoodles and 7 others 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 The ships position having anchored at Gold Harbor. heffy2 and Ampurp85 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 As we left Gold Harbor I visited the Panorama Lounge for a beverage before the daily recap. You can see why it's so popular. It's also the bar that is open at this time of day so there is that. It's easy to pop outside from the lounge to take a quick picture. Weather changing again, we got lucky. Ampurp85, Lovetocruise2002, WAAAYTOOO and 3 others 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 The daily recap was scheduled for 18:15 in the theater and it was almost time to head down when... an announcement. We've been invited to the bow on deck 5 for a special iceberg viewing. Normally closed to the public because it is a working crew area the Captain has made an exception for this occasion. Skigoofy, DDaley, Cactus527 and 7 others 1 2 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 I brought my 360 camera as well with the 3m pole. Selfie time! Skigoofy, instaGator, SpeedNoodles and 6 others 3 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 A 360 photo from the bow. Click or tap in the picture and move it around. Silver Wind Bow Iceberg Viewing Experience in 360 MaryS, PPPJJ-GCVAB and SpeedNoodles 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Back in my suite to put my camera gear to bed for the night we had begun to move off the iceberg. MaryS, Ampurp85, DDaley and 4 others 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 On with the daily recap. Various expedition team members had put together some short presentations that ranged in topic. Sort of a mini-enrichment series. Very interesting. They also announced a charity fundraiser silent auction of some items offered by the South Georgia Heritage Trust. https://www.sght.org SpeedNoodles, Lovetocruise2002, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Now on to Elephant Island. Weather is always the unknown along the Antarctic peninsula. Simply put the expedition team doesn't yet know what our experience will be. We'll find out in a couple of days. SpeedNoodles and Lovetocruise2002 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Day Ten - Sea Day enroute to Elephant Island Position report: Balcony observations: Another beautiful sea day. Ampurp85, PPPJJ-GCVAB, SpeedNoodles and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Day 10 Chronicle: 28 DEC - At Sea.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Sunny then... snow. While having breakfast in The Restaurant we passed into a storm and it was snowing. Then it cleared up again. The weather changes quickly down here. Ampurp85, Cactus527, SpeedNoodles and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 It's been a pretty nice day overall. More icebergs. SpeedNoodles, Lovetocruise2002, MaryS and 3 others 4 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted December 28, 2023 Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 4 hours ago, twangster said: This pretty much sums up how I feel after a day of teaching! @bellemiche wouldn't you agree? LOL! PPPJJ-GCVAB, Cactus527 and WAAAYTOOO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 At one point the ship slowed and they announced there were both Killer and Fin whales spotted. By the time I got upstairs they were in the distance, the Orca's well aft of the ship and the Fin off the port side. These are not the best whale pictures. Maybe someone else got a better photo or two. PPPJJ-GCVAB, Ampurp85, Lovetocruise2002 and 3 others 3 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Revised Chronicle with new lectures and times: SpeedNoodles and Lovetocruise2002 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 Noted a time change tonight. Going one hour back. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted December 29, 2023 Report Share Posted December 29, 2023 6 hours ago, twangster said: Revised Chronicle with new lectures and times: Informal = you may or may not wear a tie with your jacket? lol WAAAYTOOO and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2023 6 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said: Informal = you may or may not wear a tie with your jacket? lol Verbiage taken from the Classic ships in the fleet where the dress code is strict. Here on an expedition vessel it's a mere suggestion. SpeedNoodles 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2023 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. Lovetocruise2002, Skigoofy, WAAAYTOOO and 7 others 8 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2023 Day Eleven - enroute to Elephant Island Position report: Balcony observations: Ampurp85, heffy2, SpeedNoodles and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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