Antarctica Day 2. Majesty. Penguins. Whales. Peace.
Paradise Bay.
Sunrise: 3:37 AM. Sunset: 11:15 PM.
We awake early in hopes the storm that descended upon us and intensified so quickly did absolve at the same pace overnight. The Captain addresses the ship at 7 AM with the report on the overnight experience, and the new plan for the day.
We learn that the Captain, his officers, and the Expedition experts were up all night as well as the scientists from Palmer Station that helped the ship navigate to multiple safe points overnight. As it turned out, at it’s peak near midnight, the storm intensified to 65-70 mph sustained winds with gusts even higher. With the front of the ship safely pointed directly into the storm, the Captain shared that the rear of the ship spent the night at a 20 degree drift off starboard which meant navigating to avoid icebergs would be very challenging. So, they navigated away from icebergs moving at over 20-25 km/hr with the help of the Palmer Station scientists.
By the time we awake and are listening to his update, the winds are calming but still at 25 mph so he will not be able to attempt Lemaire Channel. It has now filled with icebergs that the ship is unable to navigate through. We will miss it this trip. Instead, he will head to Paradise Bay, which was to be part of our day two experience anyway. He stated that likely by the time we are arrive in the bay, the winds should be fully subsided, and this along with the protection of the mountains around it, it should be beautiful conditions.
And so, we venture forward along the Antarctic Peninsula.
“If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame it.”
The new itinerary for day two:
Paradise Bay
Neumayer Channel (the larger channel we couldn’t navigate yesterday) and then into the Gerlache Strait
Cuverville Island (home to a gentoo penguin rookery)
The first new images of the snow-covered peeks on Weincke Island.
The image above is our first image of the day. 7:02 AM. There’s a fresh ridge of snow across black pinnacles that ascended before us. The air is crisp. We have made our way to our ‘secret’ exterior mini deck because the bow is not yet open.
The bow is open, 8 AM. Different from yesterday, nearly no one is on the bow, or any of the other decks. We learn later many people were up most of the night due to the storm. And so, it’s amazing. We have almost the entire bow of the ship to ourselves. And, we make good use of it!
But before we do, we spot our good morning whale-tail wave from our first whale as the Captain has us steaming towards Paradise Bay.
Ninety minutes after cruising through the channel we begin to enter Paradise Bay. Our first sight is a whale spout from the bow.
It will take more than an hour to navigate to the back of Paradise Bay. Considering it only gets better from here, I hope it takes all day.
Off the port side of the ship, this is the range that will ultimately shield every bit of wind from us as we go deeper into the bay.
And then, I spot our first two Gentoo Penguins.
The bay is nearly glass now.
This is why I am here. Yes, I traveled across the globe to be here. Whales do this every year, and, no wonder. Soon, I, and you, will witness penguins moving like skipping stones across these pristine waters. It’s as if they appreciate this beauty even more than I. No wonder this is home. No wonder.
As we approach the back of the bay, one of many glaciers in this bay come into view. It’s awe-inspiring and the fact that there’s seemingly hundreds of hues of white, and grey, and blue in this palette is so soothing to me. How can I capture this and keep it near. I cannot afford short-term memory lapses of this place. I will capture best I can. And visit these images often, as necessary, to refresh, and restore, and remind.
On the way to this heaven, I have heard the harrowing hardships, repeatedly, of the explorers who sought to discover, uncover, witness, explore and experience her. I am fortunate to have the means to be here. To share in this with my wife, and my parents I’ve adopted. It is for all of us. It is for me. It is for no-one and it is for everyone. Pristine. Untainted. I feel as though I’m intruding on Mother Nature. I ought not to be here. I am grateful that I am.
The next still image I captured in amazement. And it led me to start videoing. And the videos have become some of the favorite of my Antarctic experience, as it relates to penguins, at least until the Falkland Islands. I just had no idea.
After this I looked up the Gentoo Penguin and learned they swim 22 mph and dive to depths routinely over 600 feet for food. I had no idea I would ever get to watch a penguin swim under water. Grateful for the camera that would capture this in Paradise Bay.
As we move out of Paradise Bay back into Neumayer Channel, I capture this lone penguin with an entire iceberg as their playground.
Just 10 minutes after leaving the sanctuary that is Paradise Bay, as we enter fully the Neumayer Channel, this clip shows you the difference a mile or two can make versus the protected calm of the bay.
The 15 km/hr icebergs are back.
I’m surprised to find penguins in the channel. As this iceberg is speeding down the channel, watch as the penguins attempt to catch the berg, and at the 11 second mark, if you watch closely to the top rear of the berg, you’ll see a penguin ‘fly.’
Our last stop of the day is Cuverville Island. Cuverville Island is home to a large colony of Gentoo penguins and it’s estimated there may be as many as 7,000 breeding pairs of Gentoos on the island, making it one of the largest penguin rookeries on the Antarctic Peninsula.
The island is essentially an 800-foot-high rock with a long rocky beach at its shoreline and a huge stony dome that dominates much of the island. The island also boasts some of the only identifiable botanical species in Antarctica including Antarctic hairgrass and Antarctic pearlwort, making it an extremely unique terrestrial location. Aligned with that comment as we see thousands of penguins here… nearly to the top of the dome.
I don’t spend much time videoing here as we’re just not close enough. But, wanted to share a bit of the experience.
We’ll close out our day seeing several whales but I’m too slow to capture them by video as I was out of position. A couple humpbacks, and a Minke whale. I think Trina captured one or more of them and if so, I’ll circle back to add them soon.
I will retire to our stateroom and contemplate the day. And life. Grateful. I lived out on the bow, or on our hidden gem of the 9th mini-deck for nearly the entire day, and I will rest well this night.
Tomorrow. Charlotte Bay and Deception Island. The journey continues… a significant departure from the original plan. But we go where Mother Nature and our vessel allows us to go.
Mom and Dad have been under the weather the past few days. Tomorrow we’re excited that they are feeling well enough to rejoin us on the bow as they’ve taken in the first two Antarctica days primarily from the crow’s nest where they’ve had great views, and importantly, comfortable conditions.