– Antarctica.

Feb 20th Barrientos Island, Antarctica.  62°24.8´S   59°44.7´W
I got dressed nice and early as I didn’t want to be that last person holding everyone up.  Thermal pants and shirt, waterproof overpants. Parka. Gloves and beanie. Over gloves. Life vest, walking pole. Camera gear all in the waterproof bag inside the backpack. Waterproof camera in my pocket, sunglasses. And best of all – Muck Boots. A cross between gumboots and moon boots. Comfortable – just very hard to get on and off. Seapass to scan out. It didn’t take as long as I thought – so I had to stand outside before bursting into flames. (Many people have been wearing their expedition coats around inside the ship all of the time. They must be made of asbestos. Most of the Aussies wore light shirts.)

Meanwhile the expedition crew went out to explore and set up. The leader and the landing crew go in one zodiac. They land, check safety, and set up flags showing where we could go and crossed flags for where we could not go. This might be due to unstable land, delicate areas, aggressive seals etc. All of the other Zodiacs follow – so that every driver knew what to expect. Seeing the line on zodiacs disappear into the fog was very cool.
For EVERY single landing we did the set up zodiac took rescue equipment. Big barrels crammed with survival gear. As well as what you would expect – first aid etc, they take enough gear to sustain all 100 of us for an overnight! In case something happened and we couldn’t get back to the ship.
We walked out and swiped sea pass cards, onto the outside walk way – did up jacket, life vest on, backpack on, gloves, beany, over gloves ….then down the stairs to the zodiacs. At the bottom of the stairs, on the marina, was a chemical wash to walk through. The Zodiacs were on deck 2, which was level with the water. It’s a big platform under a roof. You walked up to the edge platform. One sailor held your arm as you reach out both hands to two more people in the zodiac. With a “sailors’ grips” you took the two hands offered, step on the edge of the zodiac, down onto the box step, then sat down and slid along. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. Fantastic.
And off we went for a fun and exciting ride. You sat on the lovely soft seat and hung onto the rope behind you. Very stable and comfortable.
The Zodiac ran onto the beach and staff were waiting to assist us. In the reverse order we slid to the front, turned our backs to the beach (’cause you never turn your back on the ocean) and swung our legs over the edge. Then with two people assisting us we plopped down into water about 500mm deep – thus the importance of proper pants and muck boots. Boots are supplied but you need to bring your own PROPER waterproof pants. I was loaned some excellent muck boots and pants. Lucky as I had trouble getting them off. Helen had to come and drag them off me – every single time! If I wore the ships boots (which were much longer) I’d still be wearing them! We were given our brief – “Stay inside the flags, ……. ”
And there I was. Walking on Barrientas Island in the South Shetland Islands. Officially in Antarctica!
At this time of year the snow had gone…but the penguin poo had not. So it was a muddy poo covered island with two penguin rookeries. Gentoo and Chin Strap Penguins. Of course many Skua birds feeding on penguins. And some South American Fur Seals.
We got to wander around (in the marked areas) at will and look at what we liked.
Yes it was cold – “Damned Cold!” Not so much the temperature (or lack there of) but the wind. It was sleeting – horizontally. So the big camera was not happy. But I didn’t feel cold – too many efficient clothes on.
The penguins were very sweet. Feeding young, running around, singing and squawking.

After a few hours I headed back. You could go back at any time. The process was just as simple. Walk into the ocean to get lots of the penguin poo off your boots, (using the foot wash station) then up to the Zodiac. Two staff to hold you while you stepped up on the step in the water and onto the boat, sit, pivot and slide. Back at the ship we pulled up along side and tied up. Then in goes the step, pivot, two hands to hold onto and you are back on the ship. You walked over to the big tubs with scrubbing brushes on the bottom and sides and scrubbed your boots (and walking poles). After the scrub tanks you walked back through the chemical tank, up the stairs, swiped your card and that was it.

We were greeted with hot towels and hot sweet tea. It was a different kind each trip – Pink Lemonade, Spicy Apple etc. Then back to your room to take off all the gear, hang it up to dry, dry off cameras, charge batteries etc to be ready for the next trip.
It was all so (relatively) simple and not nearly as hard as I though it would be. And so great that we got there early and had an easy day today with only one landing.
Later we had the Captains Cocktail party where we all dressed up and had drinks and lovely nibbles with the Captain. He is from the Ukraine, has a very thick accent and is very funny (I think).
The bathrooms on board were funny. They look a bit like a nursing home! Two big grab rails in the shower, two big grab rails near the toilet. Great for rough weather.
The ship rocked a lot that night but gently and very pleasantly.
I loved my room to myself where I got to use ALL the hooks, ALL the power points.

21st Feb,  Enterprise Island, Antarctica.   64°33,9’ S   61°59,6´W
We started with a Zodiac cruise to Enterprise Island. Amazing icebergs. So wonderful. Huge! Old! And amazing. The older the ice…the bluer the berg. As the ice is compressed over the years the air is crushed out of it – turning it blue (lots of water looks blue – like in the ocean. Clear water appears blue).  We stopped next to some bergs and could see and hear the air effervescing as it was crushed out.

Our Zodiac driver toady was Flipper. He was in charge of logistics and Zodiac operations, and was brilliant. He was the ‘super finder’. It was somewhere nearby, Flipper would find it.
We visited a shipwreck of a whaler ‘Guvernøren’, a 3433 ton ship that caught fire in 1915 and was run aground in order to rescue men and supplies. Therefore much of its infrastructure was still there.

Tie up points, water boats (barges that were taken on land to collect water then towed back to the ship). barrels. Remember timber takes hundreds of year to break down due to the cold. 101 years and it still looked great.

On the way back to the ship Flipper found Minke whales. Yay. And sea lions, and seals, and many birds.
Back on the ship we cruised through the strait ‘Wilhelmina Bay’ and saw many humpbacks. I spent ages up on the bridge spotting whales. Annette is the main whale person. She is a Marine Biologist with a PhD in Antarctic Whales. What she doesn’t know about whales, isn’t worth knowing.

There is an open bridge policy (unless something is happening) so you could go up anytime you like. So I took advantage of that! It was great when the Captain was off duty – he chain smoked on the bridge and it was disgusting.

21st Feb, Cuverville Island, Antarctica.   64°40,3´S   62°37,2´W

After lunch we did another landing. Curverville Island, home of one of the largest known Gentoo penguin colonies.

There is usually a heavy snow cover, and an intricate network of “penguin highways”.  So much fun and so funny. There were thousands of them. The chicks were adult sized and were in various stages of molting. The chicks were fatter then the parents due to being well fed and they were preparing to molt – so super fluffy.

They were still being fed by the parents who spend a lot of time hunting for fish. They gracefully speed through the water, leaped out and would fly for metres. They speed up to the rocky shore, stood up, walk forward and ……..nearly always fell flat on their faces.

Gentoo’s teach the babies to hunt by running away from them with their food. So all over the beach are parents running away from, usually two, huge fuzzy babies. The chase goes for hundreds of metres with much ducking and weaving through the crowd and around rocks. The babies are clumsy and fall, running with their little wings flapping and yelling the whole time. Sometimes the parents run into the water and the babies stop dead on the edge, not willing to go in!
The fastest chick – therefore the strongest, gets the food. The second one does not. Natures way! But it keeps the Skuas well fed. The chicks collapse everywhere, just like toddlers, ready for a sleep after their huge effort.

And then…… I got MY PHOTO. THE PHOTO.

That one that will always be special! That one that, just by looking at it, will transport me back to Antarctica.
The back story.
A parent was running away from the chicks with food. As it ran up the hill this chick fell way behind. The Skua saw its opportunity and ‘came in for the kill’. The chick yelled and tried to get away. It was doing a good job but the Skua had the upper hand. All of a sudden the parent turn and charged back, down the hill like a beast, screeching and chased the Skua away.
Sensational.
How lucky was I. I expected David Attenborough to pop up beside me and start describing the scene.

21st Feb, Dinner – a BBQ on the back deck.It was amazing! I don’t have enough superlatives.
We sat on the deck…with white table clothes and full dinner service, eating a great BBQ with steak, ribs, stacks of salads and veg, drinking mulled wine (well they did), wrapped in fluffy blankets, in 5 degrees while some of the most spectacular scenery in the world slipped by.

Giant glaciers, huge icebergs, massive cliffs of snow and ice. Sea lions, penguins, birds. It was amazing. Surreal.
I was thinking, “WOW, what could they charge for a dinner like this”, then I realised the price would be $10,000 to $20,000!
The trip was worth it for this dinner alone!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…..

21st Feb, Paradise Harbour, Antarctica.   64°53,5´S 62°52,9´W
At 8pm, we kitted up and headed out again in the Zodiacs. This time we went to ANTARCTICA. As in the CONTINENT of Antarctica. We walked on the continent. The White Continent. The Seventh Continent. MY Seventh continent. There were not a huge number of us who had visited ALL SEVEN continents. How exciting.

We went ashore at Almirante Brown Station – the Argentine base of Almirante Brown on the Antarctic Peninsula mainland. It was named for William Brown, an Irish immigrant who became a national hero in Argentina and is known as the father of the Argentine Navy. We played and walked and looked. Made snow angels and sang “The Hills are Alive”. There were some pretty impressive views…but that didn’t matter. We were walking on Antarctica.

We headed back at 10pm.  We had to go….it would get dark in a few hours.
What a day!
I did say that if they decided we had to go home now, I would go happy. I have seen so much and done so much already. AND I HAVE BEEN TO ANTARCTICA!

Monday 22nd Antarctica
It’s a good thing the wake up call is so lovely. “Good morning. Good morning. Today is a lovely day. We are at lat… long… The temperature is 4 degrees and the water temperature is 2 degrees. The wind is 15 knots from the west and ……..” Then he hands over to the other announcer who repeats it all in German!
This morning’s trip was to Port Lockroy. A British base, their first one, so Base A.

Of course there were Gentoo Penguins everywhere. The base is known as the “Penguin Post Office”. I watched a documentary on it last week! (It’s on Netflix).
I really did not need any more photos of Gentoo Penguins….but who can resist. The chicks are so damn cute. Before they molt, their feathers get particularly fluffy. They look like obese balls of cuteness. It really takes all of your will power not to pick one up and snuggle it and rub it all over your face. They truly are adorable. I now understand the obsession the world has with penguins.

Back into the Zodiacs and around the corner to a beautiful cove. One of the most visually stunning placed EVER!. By this stage the weather had changed and it was very cold. Such an amazing weather change in 10 minutes.
And …you guessed it, more Gentoo Penguins. And some stunning views. There was a small yacht anchored in the bay. Maybe 20 meters. It did have a heavy hull, three masks and (apparently) twice the normal number of guy ropes to the masts. They must be seasoned yachties not tourists. I think the Drake would kill a normal person in that.
Helen and I tried to make Snow Angles.

But the snow was too hard. We did have fun though – especially trying to get up in the icy snow that let you sink up to your knees. I kept getting almost up, them my feet would sink and down I would go. It really was quiet hysterical. Then a walk over the hill. Yes it was muddy and pooie but I have no idea how I got penguin poo up to my knees at the back. In to the ocean with a scrubbing brush for me.

 The afternoon trip was to Useful Island. Yep more Gentoo Penguins. There are only 300,000 Gentoos. They are the least common. They just happen to live at the places we have been! But I did see lots of good things. In the parent chase one chick was running with it’s chest up against the parents back. It was very funny. Like it was playing a “Ghosting” game with someone.
I also got some great views of parents returning and feeding their greedy little guys. And of penguins bathing. Like swimming but with heaps of rolling and flicking and tail swishing.

After a while wandering around and enjoying the stunning weather I sat on a rock for about 30 minutes and just looked. The sky was so blue and everything was sparkling. Apart from the old rotting snow…covered in four months of penguin poo and molted feathers.
I then hopped into a Zodiac for a cruise around the bay. We saw heaps of seals – mainly Crab Eater (who don’t eat crabs – but have teeth that have a hook on them that look like a crab claw) and Weddell Seals. Weddell’s are the seals that live on the ice floes attached to land and keep air holes open with their teeth. They are the southern most breeding mammal. We also saw Elephant seals. So the only one missing from the list is a Leopard seal.

We went into some very shallow water and looked for copeopods – tiny crustaceans that many of the creatures eat. I stuck the underwater camera to try to get some photos. I will definitely NOT be falling in. It was so very cold.

We then went cruising and looked at icebergs. Stunning. Some had archways. One looked like a huge modern art lotus flower – like the big one in Singapore. When we went into the shallow bay, our driver ‘Flipper’ said it looked like a theme park for Penguins. And then we saw some small icebergs (bergy-bits, under 5 meters) that looked like roundabout horses.

Another stunning day!
After a lovely dinner I decided that I would go up to the bridge to see if there would be a good sunset. The bridge is always open….unless it is not!
There were no colours but I picked up binoculars and started to help Annette the Marine Biologist and whale expert look for whales. We found at least 6 different humpbacks all scattered around over a large area. I saw one do a small breach! Very exciting. They were too far away to bother announcing it to the ship. We just kept watching and hopping they would get closer. We chatted about the chances of seeing Orcas. “It’s all about luck. They could be swimming past us right now on the other side!” At about 9.30 we saw a new group of whales. Blowing differently.
AHhhhhhhhhh. They were Orcas. They came towards us and got closer and closer. NOW it was time to tell the whole ship! Then they came closer. It was a pod of at least 10 animals.
After a while the announcer guy made another announcement and said something like “this is amazing…If you are not outside on deck watching this, you are on the wrong cruise in the wrong place”
The ‘followed’ us at least 20 minutes. The light was too low for any decent photos. There was John the photographer, Annette, another staff member and me all up there with huge lenses. But I don’t think we got a decent shot between us. But my very grainy, blurry ones will do BECAUSE I WATCHED A POD OF 10 ORCAS FOR 20 MINUTES!!!!
Annnette was so happy. Biggest pod she has ever seen.

WOW. What a way to finish a great day!
What shall tomorrow bring?????? At least we are not getting a wake up call until 8am.. YAY sleeping!

23rd Feb, Cierva Cove, Antarctica. – 64°05,1´S   60°55,9´W
Woke up to falling snow. Yay, it was snowing. Big fat flakes falling all around. Not blowing around but floating gentle onto us. And real ‘snow flake’ shaped flakes. So amazing. You could see the six pointed star that is the base of all snow flakes.
Snow was another of my ‘Five Wish List’ for the trip.

We went for a zodiac cruise and it was wonderful.

We saw lots of seals, mainly Crabeaters lying on ice floes and bergs. They are HUGE. At least 2 meters long and a few hundred kg. Crabeaters are the only seals who smile. They are very sweet. Not very active, but sweet.

We also saw Primavera, an Argentinean base. Didn’t look like a lovely place to live.

The whole area was full of Brash Ice. Big chunks of smashed up ice. The zodiac could run over the smaller stuff and it made great noises on the bottom. Bigger ones bounced off. And there were icebergs, from small to shopping centre sized.

There were some amazing bergs. The blue colour of them is quiet stunning. So many had caves and arches. On the smaller ones the “Swan neck” is quiet common. So many ‘ponies’ and ‘ducks’ floating around out there!

We stopped and picked up a chunk of very old ice.
Totally clear – so it has been crushed for many years, maybe 1000’s in a glacier. It was about 500 x 400 x 300mm, but very sculptured so not a solid block. It weighted at least 40kg. I decided it looked like a pony and everyone agreed. I named him Snowy! Snowy sat on the floor of the Zodiac for another 2 hours – and didn’t melt a drop. It was then carved and sat up on the bar. Bits were in our drinks for many nights.
Then we saw a Leopard Seal. Squeal with excitement. Named for their spotted coat, over 500kg and three meters long.

And so sweet looking. Sweet and massive. They have a small head and no neck tapering. Just this long slinky head that turns into a body. Their month is huge and goes back at least half of their head. It didn’t open it’s mouth but you could see how big it was. The thing that struck me most was how serpentine looking it was. All I could think of was Nagini – the giant snake from Harry Potter.

When it was sick of us it moved away – like a snake. Seals do not have a pelvis, so they are the ones that bounce and blubber along when they move. It arched it’s back and humped its way across the ice and in it went. How special. I got to see a Leopard. (I also know where Leopard Slugs got their names). Another of the things on my 5 point wish list – check.
The temperature had really dropped but it was still beautiful. We did have to be careful as the brash ice freezes together making huge ice floes. This can make getting back to the ship difficult.

The snow continued to fall and the animals were happy. This was the only activity I almost felt the cold on. Almost, but not quite. But that was while sitting still for three hours. Then back onto the ship and up to the spa. A spa! In the snow! With icebergs floating by! CHECK. Cannot tell you how wonderful this was.
And now I had checked off the five things I really wanted –
* My feet on the continent of Antarctica.
* Fat, flaky snow on the ship.
* Leopard Seal.
* Spa with icebergs floating by and
* Orcas.
Have to be happy with that. The rest would be an amazing bonus!

23rd Feb, Hydrurga Rocks, Antarctica.   64°08,7´S   61°36,5´W
The afternoon visit was to Hydrunga Rocks – a long flat, little island. Plenty of penguins – but this time Chinstraps. And heaps of Southern Sea Lions. They DO have pelvises so they are the ones who can gallop around on the ground. Much jousting of big guys and play jousting of younger ones.

The snow was amazing. Quiet heavy and so beautiful. And warm. Far to many clothes on! And taking photos in heavy snow was a new skill to me and fairly tricky. Poor camera didn’t know what to focus on – usually the snow. So many terrible photos. But fun.

And the Sea Lions were great. So huge and funny. Their giant whiskers were catching the snow and glinting.
Their whiskers are up to 500mm long and thick as fencing wire. Another fun day.
A dip in the spa to finish the day.

24th Feb, At Sea. 62°57,7´S   58°07,8´W
Our planned shore landings today were cancelled. The sea was too rough and the winds too strong. But the bergs were large. The morning activity was cancelled so we headed off to the afternoon spot. Then that was cancelled so we have headed off towards the Shetland Islands again.
Then that got cancelled. We are now onto ‘Plan C’.
We had a lecture on ice and on Penguins.
But more importantly we saw Fin Whales. The second largest of the whales. Very huge. Only a few meters shorter then the Blue Whale. And so cool to see another species. Very exciting. And very cold out there watching them.

But then there was a change of plans. We were given permission to visit both the Chilean and the Russian bases at King George Island.

The Chileans have a Naval base there – Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva. It is a rescue center. The Chileans have a long history of sea rescues in Antarctic waters and in fact are the guys who rescued Shakleton’s men from Elephant Island. They welcomed us with open arms and were so happy to show us around their base. We went into their lounge room, kitchen, storerooms, rec room, gym (where they do their mandatory 60 min running and 60 min weight training a day). Makes sense since they are a rescue squad! 
We also saw the rescue boats. Zodiacs on steroids – in a shed with large tracks down into the water for quick egress. And huge dry suit / safety suits. A one piece thermal and floatation suit with built in boots and gloves.
We also saw their ‘hospital’, a small room with a skinny hard bed and some equipment. But they also have an airstrip so help is only a few hours away in Puerto Arenas back in Chile.

The Russians didn’t invite us in. Except for into their Russian Orthodox church up on the hill with domes and all. Southern most church in the world. Their base was huge with many buildings.

There were also 6 ginormous old tanks for whale oil. Massive like you see at Botany Bay at the refineries. So sad to see how many whales were killed.

We saw a document last night about Whaling. Apparently the Russians almost wiped whales out in modern times. After the treaty was made they were given a quota of around 2,500 kill a year. The KGB was involved in falsifying records and instructed the whalers to get every whale they could. A whistle blower went public and released accurate record that showed they killed over 250,000 some years.
So seeing the giant tanks was particularly sad.
We then did a zodiac cruise past the Chinese base (It’s know as the Great Wall as the Chinese build everything huge) and went to Ardley Island to see more penguins. Gentoos as the Adelie’s had already left. One was still there. They believe it is because climate change is affecting the Antarctic Peninsular and Adelie’s are a very southern species. They believe the Adelie’s don’t have a lot of time left.  

This is were my phone kicked in. Vodafone bounced off the Chinese network at their base. How funny    they have mobile phone network in Antarctica. Yes, I did ring people. And Yes, I did wake them up. It was worth it. 
Back to the ship by 7pm. They work us hard! But still loving Antarctica.

Thursday 25th Antarctica
Different weather again today. Freezing and savage.
The deck had lots of snow on it. And it was still falling. I did make a snowman!

The wind was savage and the snow was in tiny blown balls that drove into you at 45 degrees. Visibility was down to under 100 metres.
The weather was fitting as today we visited Elephant Island, the place where Shackleton and his men survived for four months. It is a lump of rock sticking way up out of the ocean. Absolutely savage with very little flat ground. This was following a winter of being trapped in the pack ice and watching their ship get crushed and sink. They killed Mrs Chippy, the cat, and fed her to the dogs. They escaped with their gear and the two lifeboats that they dragged across the ice. Eventually they killed the sled dogs as well, then ate them.
They set sail and ended up at Elephant Island.
These 22 men survived under their upturned life boats. For months. Lucky there were plenty of seals and penguins.

Shackleton then realised that they were too far from normal shipping lanes and would never be found. He sailed with four other men to South Georgia. Here, after walking across the spine of the South Georgian island, they met the Chileans who came and rescued them. All 22 men survived.
Shackelton was a fairly brilliant leader.
Elephant Island = horrid place. Amazing that they survived!

We had workshops in the afternoon. I went to one on Crevasse Rescue. ‘Cause you never know when someone might fall into a crevasse. And when you might have the 30 kg of equipment needed to save them. This session was run by Lois – one of the expedition team. A French Patagonian who is into ice climbing. Very interesting but I have decided that I will NOT take up ice climbing as a hobby.
There was yet another birthday on board tonight. A band comes in from the wait staff. And Johnny the musician/zodiac loader. There is a guy with a guitar, Johnny on the Sax, another on the tin pots and lots of singers. We have had at least one birthday every night.
Tonight we watcher the first half of the Shakelton movie. It’s three hours long so over two nights. It’s a great movie. They have popcorn! We get it in little bowls but the expedition staff all turn up with sick bags to get it in!
The Expedition staff are like guests after hours. They have normal rooms and eat and drink like us. It is really lovely.
So now we are heading away from the Antarctic peninsular and are off to the Sub Antarctic islands of St Georgia. Home of 95% of the worlds Southern Sea Lions during the summer as well as Albatross breeding grounds and King Penguin rookeries.

Friday 26th Antarctica
Sailing through the Scotia Sea to South Georgia. Today was a Sea Day.
One of the talks today was on adaptation of species to cold
Many animals down here are a fat ball shape – as a sphere loses the least heat of all the shapes due to the smaller amount of surface area per kg.
Penguins stand on their heels and the tips of their toes to save heat.
They drink salt water and have a gland that pulls the salt out and excretes it through a drip line at the end of their beaks.
The red inside the penguin mouth is red as it is a stimulus to feed.
Seals shiver when out of the water to warm up.
Adult Leopards only eat the skin and fat of their kills. Only the young ones eat the meat.
Penguins are not afraid of Leopard and Elephant seals on the shore.
Why do young animals looks so cute?? Short forehead, big eye and small nose. Cute is an adaptation as is sets off a protection instinct within a species. How cool is that!
We had to do a biosecurity thing again today. Washing boots, outer clothing, vacuuming pockets and Velcro etc then sign the form.
One poor man got confused…or as many said “stupid is as stupid does”. We have been washing our boots every time we go ashore by walking thorough the trough of chemicals. And on the way back through the scrub station then back through the chemical wash. So we should have some idea of how to do it.
During mandatory cleaning today, the afore mentioned man went to the outside wash station and filled his boots up with the wash solution and scrubbed them. NOT THE OUTSIDE, the inside.
He will have chilly feet in South Gerogia – or will be spending a lot of time with the hair dryer for the rest of today!
Went to a seminar on whale identification. It was good – but half way through there were whales so we all had to run out and look! Humpbacks.
Then we got to see a movie made by Jonathon – the French Expedition Leader – the boss. It was awesome. It was about a year he spent at the French research base south of Australia. It was fantastic. And so wonderful that we know him! Only sad thing was that it had an American voice over – Not Jonathon and his sexy sexy French “Good Morning, Good morning. Today’s the weather is……” voice. The market demanded a US voice for sales! So sad. Afternoon tea was a big Crepe station set up in “The Club” with Crepe Suzette made to order. Very flash.
After dinner we watched the other half of the Shackelton movie. Really great movie! Kenneth Branagh is Shakelton.
We are getting closer to South Georgia…I am doing another Pirate Drill – just like sailing around the Horn of Africa. But this time not for Pirates. It’s for the waters near South Georgia and with it’s massive bird population. We need to keep our curtains drawn at night (and outside lights off) to avoid “Bird Strike” where the birds are drawn to lights and may get injured or lost. Much nicer then Pirates!
So that was today. Busy…but at sea. Barely had time to squeeze in a nap!

Day 16 of the trip – Day 10 of the ship
The day started with a talk on South Georgia.
It is still within the Antarctic Convergence, under the influence of the currents.
It’s an Overseas Territory of Great Britain. It is an extension of the Andes Mountains. They come down South America then spin out under the ocean, then rise causing South Georgia, then creating South Shetlands and rise up forming the the Antarctica Peninsula and onto the continent.
Pack ice does not come here but the southern bays do freeze up in winter. Plus it is very very glacial.
There is a huge influence from Catabatic wind (as it rolls down the glaciers and makes a huge wind), thus the filthy weather causing the weather to change more here then even in Antarctica. It is also in the ‘furious fifties’ so cops those winds as well.
Cook was the first person to set foot and said “I do not think it worth my while to go and examine these places where it did not seem probable that any one would ever be benefited by the discovery…The inner parts of the country were not less savage and horrible….Not a tree or shrub was to be seen, no not even big enough to make a toothpick”. He still fired his gun and claimed it for Great Britain though.
He did go home and talk about the amount of seal though. Thus ending the lovely life of the fur seal, then the whale. In 1800, one sealing vessel took 57,000 fur seals in one year. Fur seals were virtually wiped out by 1820 and the industry left.
There are 120,000 pairs of Gentoo here. King penguin have 30 Rookery’s, with 400,000 of them at South Georgia.
Macaroni Penguins breed here also, but are very hard to see as they breed in inaccessible areas. They are the with pretty tassel feathers on their heads like Sven in Happy Feet.
And then there are the Albatross – Wandering, Sooty, the very endangered Royal and others. As well as so many other species of birds.
Pipits (a small songbird) were almost made extinct by the brown rats that came with the Whalers. There has been a massive rat and mouse irradiation program and the humans are winning. In the last few years the Pipits had started to recover.
South Georgia is a very difficult place to land…so achieving 50% of planned landing is a good outcome. We have around seven excursions planned but we shall see.
There are also Reindeer here – introduced by whalers. They brought 25 and set them free. They bred up to 3500. Norwegians came and killed them off (after much discussion – should the Brits fix the problem or the Norwegians as they caused it). There are still a few. If we see any we are asked to take a photo and report it so hunters can come and fix that up.
I went on deck to watch the Albatross today. Very cold but what amazing birds. They are so hypnotising – the way they just glide around is fantastic.
When I was up there, I noticed the spa had been opened (they close it when out in open rough water) so went back, got changed and went up for a spa. As I stepped in I realised that it had only just been refilled and wasn’t yet warm. Oops! Cold feet. I will try again later.
Then we had a talk on the history of Whaling.
Commercial whaling started in the 11th century, by the Basques. They caught 40,000 whales in 100 years. It was hard work to kill them and then tow them to shore to use.
In 1712, the ‘Yankee Sperm Whale Fishery’ developed the ‘tryworks’,– a boiler system that let them render the blubber at sea. They could then use more of the whale.
Sperm whales have the ‘melon’ in their forehead. A huge bladder of oil. The melon is an organ that allows the echo location to work. This oil was used by humans to produced smokeless candles.
Ambergris is from the stomach and was used to make perfume last longer.
Skin was used like leather – shoelaces among other things.
1860 – saw the developed the explosive harpoon. As well as steam powered ships.
By 1904 they discovered the whales in Antarctica – mainly around South Georgia and it became the worlds largest whaling centre. 
By 1915 they had wiped out the humpbacks in the area. They then started on Southern Right Whales, so named as they were the ‘right whale’ to kill as they produced so much oil, as well as Blue, Fin and basically anything they could harpoon.
In 1920 factory ships were developed. Whalers could now process a fin whale (the second biggest whale) in 30 minutes. With the factory ships they could stay in distant waters and didn’t have to follow any rules. They could hunt mothers and calves.
In the season 1930/31 they took 40,000 whales.
By the 1950’s Blue, Fin and Humpback and Right were commercial extinct.
2 million whales had been killed.
In 1980’s the International Whaling Commission introduced the moratorium on whaling and made the southern oceans a total Whale sanctuary.
Indigenous whaling is still allowed – only tiny numbers ie 1 per village.
When the moratorium was made there was a loop hole. Scientific purpose were allowed but it had to be approved by that countries government. Bloody Japanese!
Iceland and Norway just said “No, We do not agree. We will keep commercial hunting in our waters”. And they do! At least they are only in their waters.
The Northern Right whale (only 400 left), Narwhal and Beluga are suffering and will suffer a lot more. With climate change the Arctic ice is down to half since satellite photos (in the 90’s). It is disappearing at a rate of 4% a year.
Antarctic Peninsular is a hot spot of global warming so damage is beginning now, which is very sad!
Then there was a lecture on Birds of South Georgia – By Dima the bird-man and geologist.
Highest Mt is 2985m, Mount Paget which is still growing. Most of the island is very steep.
The island has lots of cliffs, deep fjords and glaciers and is made of Metamorphic rocks.
It is always cold, windy and cloudy. Summer temperatures rarely reach 10 degrees
The harbours in the south do freeze up by the rest is ice free.
South Georgia is a hot spot for Albatross, King Penguins and Fur seals. Also lots of other species.
Part way through the bird talk we all had to rush out to see the Southern Right Whale. YAY. Another whale I have now seen. Didn’t get a photo, as I didn’t have the big camera because I was at a lecture. But I saw it. It was so very cold out there.
We all came back in the Dima started the lecture again.
Then the announcement “Sorry Dima! Right Whale at 11 o’clock.
This time I ran to my room to get coat and camera. So worth it. This whale hung around for a while and showed itself. Fantastic.

In the whale lecture Annette described them as a “fat hippo” and they really do look like that! They are quiet brown compared to most whales and have NO dorsal fin. Quite weird, but that’s what gives them the hippo look. They are also one of the whales with the tiny top jaw and the huge lower jaw. So cool to see it. So glad I ran for my camera – as I got some great photos.
My whale viewing is now – Humpback, Orca, Minke, Fin and Southern Right. Now to fine the elusive Blue whale! (I know… that is not going to happen.)
Happy Dance.
We then went back and finished the Bird talk. Only took twice the allotted time but it was great.
King Penguins are “Serially monogamous” – one partner for a while then another. They have a 3 year breeding cycle as the chicks take longer then 12 months as they are so big – 2 chicks in 3 years.
We are almost at South Georgia. Very exciting. BUT tomorrow we are going to Gold Harbour, named for the golden cliffs at sunrise.
We have a 5.30 AM wake up call. Who knew…there is a 5.30 in the morning! That will not be fun! Well OK it probably will be!
Fingers crossed that the weather and the swell will allow us to get out tomorrow.

Next tab – South Georgia Island.  And if you think this was good………. Hang on tight. It will blow your socks off.
Click below to go there.

South Georgia