Yalour Islands

When we looked out our cabin widow this morning, I could have sworn we were still dreaming. We were parked in a bay surrounded by icebergs. It was difficult to imagine how they got this ship into this place, but I was definitely thankful that we were on a Class A icebreaker. Our expedition leader, Danny, had set our first excursion for the morning as the Yalour Islands, where there is a large colony of Adelie penguins. We would finally step on land in Antarctica.

Berg Monster

During the transfer from the ship, our zodiac wound through a maze of fantastical ice, like we were touring some kind of abstract ice sculpture garden on a huge scale. You simply cannot believe the shades of blue that surround you in this ice.

Our noses gave us the first sign that we were approaching our landing area. One thing about penguin colonies, is that they aren’t the tidiest of creatures. There is good biological reasoning. As penguin chicks mature, they go through a “catastrophic molting.” This means they lose all of their feathers at once, and they are unable to enter the water for a couple of weeks until their adult layers grow in. The safest place to be is to huddle in groups around their nests. As a result, there are no lines between living room and bathroom.

Adelie’s are generally considered the cutest penguins to observe. They are very active and seem to have personalities. This group lived up to the hype. We watched them quibble, chat, cuddle, explore, and some even seemed to come welcome us. Since there are no land predators in Antarctica, animals have no instinctual fear when they are standing on firm ground. Other than being curious about us “large red penguins”, they seemed unphased by our presence.

Adelie Penguins

After about an hour and a half, it was time to get back in the zodiacs to cruise around the bay. We all had thoughts about hoping to see some penguins on an iceberg, or maybe a seal, but we had set our expectations unnecessarily low. The burst of wildlife and scenery seriously left me dizzy. We saw several groups of penguins doing penguin-y things on the ice and in the water. Sometimes they were just resting and looking as cute as ever. Others were jumping on and off the ice and rocks going to bathe or eat, or by the looks of it, just go play.

We spotted a few seals lounging on icebergs. Once again, we were able to cruise right up next to them. Once in a while, they would wake up and lazily lift their head to check out the visitors. They might scratch themselves, and then roll over and go back to sleep. There was a mix of Crab Eater and Weddell seals. We were hoping to find a Leopard seal, but we forgot all about that when we heard the whales spouting.

A few Humpbacks had come into the bay with us, and now they seemed all around our zodiac. The krill that they feed on must not have been too deep, because they never spent more than a minute or two beneath the surface. Each time they came back up, they would break the surface with a classic whale spout. It’s really something to experience a place that is so quiet and remote that the only sound you hear is whales breathing.

We soon learned their pattern. They would take two or three breaths, then very clearly arch their backs, which was the clear signal that they would soon stick their tails in the air as they dove. Time after time we watched this routine, constantly searching for different ways to capture images that might freeze the moment in our memories. Despite the incredible surroundings and ample opportunities, getting a good picture is so much harder than you can imagine. The events are just too unpredictable and happen incredible quickly.

For example, at one point a group of penguins began “porpusing” (jumping up out of the water the way that dolphins do when they play) in a line directly from our zodiac towards a couple of the humpbacks. It probably lasted ten seconds. It was incredibly fun to soak in, but way to fleeting to get our cameras lined up and focused.

Close Call

To top it all off, a mother humpback and her calf suddenly surfaced just a few yards from our partner zodiac. We all watched in amazement as these two gigantic creatures cruised past this suddenly tiny raft, and as they always do, hump their backs, and lift their tails to dive – right next to the boat. Our entire group just stared at each other in wide eyed amazement, and smiled.

At that point there was really nothing left to do but head back to the ship for lunch. As we settled down next to the window to eat, we had no idea that the show wasn’t over. The ship started moving out of the bay and into the Gerlache Straight. Every two minutes, someone would yell and point – calving iceberg, seals, penguins, whale… The action and scenery were constant in every direction.

this morning opened my eyes to just how important this place is to the marine ecosystem, and on the environment as a whole. Antarctica is not a barren wasteland. Of course, it is a harsh climate and nothing can survive on the interior, but it’s waters are teaming with life that is utterly dependent on maintaining the delicate balance that exists in these frigid, pristine waters.

Winter Island and Wordie House

Our heads were still spinning from the morning, but before we knew it, we had arrived at our next stop. This place was called “Winter Island”, because it was home to a winter science outpost. There is still an active Ukranian science station here, studying changes in the ozone layer, but our destination was a historic site next door known as Wordie House.

Vernadsky Station

The house is named after Scottish explorer James Worthy, who was the chief scientist on Ernest Shackelton’s doomed expedition. The original building was abandoned in the 1950’s, and subsequently washed out in a storm. It has been rebuilt and now stands as a sort of museum for human living and working conditions in Antarctica in the early 20th century.

On the way to the island, we again cruised the ice-filled water nearby. The water here was way too shallow for whales. We saw several more groups of penguins, and a few more seals. At one point, we were taking pictures of a partner zodiac through a hole in a gigantic iceberg, when it suddenly started heaving. We scrambled to back away, just before the entire thing turned over. Once again, we all sat stunned at what we had just experienced.

We then pulled up on the island and took our turn walking through Wordie House. You feel transported into what could only have been a cold, dark, cramped, and seriously miserable experience to spend a winter in such a place. Explorers and scientists are definitely wired differently than most of us.

The weather started to turn at that point. I don’t know how cold it actually got, but it felt like the temperature plummeted, and it started snowing enough that the zodiac ride back to the ship was pretty uncomfortable. But, when we pulled alongside an iceberg with another Crab Eater seal in front of another ice berg, I just had to grab a few shots. I’m so glad I did, because the seal woke up and started to yawn and scratch himself, and I ended up with my favorite image of the trip so far.

From there it was time to get back to the boat for some hot chocolate and dinner, and to rest after a long day. Danny informed us that we would be headed back out into open water to race southward. Tomorrow, we were to cross the Antarctic Circle.

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