We woke to a stunning day with high clouds and clear weather. It seems like the initial misty heavy overcast is starting to be a thing of the past. We were heading towards Portal Point which was the location of a hut (now in Stanley in the Falklands) that was one of the only access points to the polar plateau on the peninsula. The point was overlooking Charlotte Bay and the morning’s plan was to do a landing and have a look around combined with a cruise. That plan went straight in the bin, though, when we realized that there were multiple humpback whales in the waters, feeding. So we were all loaded into the zodiacs and the following couple of hours we were just drifting about in the water, experiencing the whales up close, and because they were feeding they weren’t going anywhere so we didn’t have to worry about having to keep up with them. You could be in one location, and there would be a few minutes silence while seeing zodiacs somewhere else getting them up close, and starting to feel cheated you’d suddenly have 2-8 whales come up to the surface around you, swim around a bit and then dive back down. We were even able to see them blow bubble-nets as they appeared as rings in the surface. It was fascinating getting to see all this up close.
It was assumed that this individual long time ago got stuck in some netting and was wounded getting free.
You got very close to the whales if you turned off the engine.
In the afternoon we took the zodiacs through Graham Passage. It is a relatively wide passage and it gave us some magnificent views of the surrounding land and ice. I am amazed by with the clear sky with the sun shining down, and still weather, it’s all a palette of hues of white and blue. It is all so beautiful.
Graham Passage.
Getting up the following morning we had anchored at Brown Bluff where we landed in the zodiacs and were surrounded by numerous adélie penguins and their fluffy chicks. It was quite a sight, and an entertaining one, too! We were a few who managed to get a spot in the citizen science zodiac (citizen science is, put short, gathering of science and scientific data by the public and sending it to scientists using the data) and we were supposed to follow the coastline and perform tests of the water, among other things. Unfortunately, due to the current, it was impossible to get anything to work as it should so we quickly scrapped that and just cruised for a bit before also coming on land with the rest.
Adélies getting into the water in a not so orderly fashion.
This adult gentoo was chased around by two hungry chicks.
March of the penguins.
In the afternoon we arrived at Paulet Island that is host for a huge colony of adélies. They seemed to be all over the place, and several bergs in the water had also been occupied by the penguins. We spent a bit more than an hour on land, and leaving we took the zodiacs and circled multiple bergs so we really got every chance to see the penguins in all their glory.
Arriving at Paulet Island.
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