Graeme Ger Antarctic: Mikkelsen Harbour and Curtiss Bay 11 Jan

11 Jan 2012. The best day ever and so many photos. Started with an early landing at Mikkelsen Harbour. Weather fine and we were greeted by two Weddell seals on the beach lying beside an old whaling boat and the bones of a number of whales. The gentoo penguin colony here is in the hatching stage. There were many pairs with pairs of day old chicks. The King and Emperor penguins only lay one egg whereas most of the others lay two. We watched one mother with an egg that we thought may have been about to hatch as there was some strange orange stuff on the egg. We stayed for at least half an hour but after we left the egg broke open and a new chick appeared, we missed it. We did see a few penguins return from fishing and when they reached their nest, where their mate was keeping the chicks warm, they greeted each other with the flap waving, neck stretching, throat yelling ritual that all penguins do as they return to the nest. We then watched them swap their position on the nest. Mum then fed the two chicks and dad did some more stone gathering to put on the nest before he went fishing. This all happens within a 2 metres of us and with hundreds of pairs. They seem to be completely uninterested and unconcerned about us. When the chicks grow old enough the mother will run away from feeding them and the two chicks will chase her. Once one gives up the chase she will feed the one that was the strongest and that chick will live. Tough life in the natural world.

Curtiss Bay The afternoon was the highlight. Perfect weather, hardly a cloud in the sky and except for the katabatic winds off the ice, very little wind. This was an afternoon only in the zodiacs, no landing, in Curtiss Bay. We spent 3 hours cruising among giant icebergs, ice flows and seals. We saw 2 leopard seals lying on icebergs, another in the water swimming next to an iceberg with a weddell seal on it and we also saw a crab eater seal lying on an iceberg. We could almost reach out and touch them. Well not the leopard seal as we were not going close to him. We saw icebergs calving off sections. The loud roar and the wave it creates as they calve is amazing. We were the last zodiac back but nobody complained except that we had to come back.

After dinner, The rock man said he could not describe all he had seen and so he had written a poem and it really did express what we all felt about the day. Everyone was on a high after this great day. Only one of the staff has ever been into Curtiss Bay so once again we have been blessed with such a great moment that will remain with us all, for years to come.

We only just discovered that the boat has a hot tub on the top deck so Ger. and I plus the two Kiwi girls got out in the freezing cold air and into the hot tub. Sailing along in the hot tub with icebergs floating by was a magical way to spend our second last night in the Antarctic Peninsula, we have called this our polar plunge. Tomorrow is a 7am breakfast and an 8 am zodiac launch followed by another one at 1pm and we need to be under way by 4pm as there is heavy weather expected in the dreaded Drake Passage. Nobody can believe we are near the end, it has been superb. Doubt that anything tomorrow can top today.

Ice Amphitheatre

An afternoon to remember

Cruising Curtiss Bay

A mere divet in the coastline

Where ice comes to play

With nunataks above

And snowfields below

Steep icefalls gasp

And heave as they flow

Ice meets the sea

And sun heats the cliff,

Which crack and calve

Setting icebergs adrift

Drawn to the bay’s shelter

And a veneer of floating beds

Are leopards and crab-eaters

Not swimmers, sunbathers instead

Team Kayak’s wake sparkled

For all to admire

Slicing silently through the slush

Never seeming to tire

Back at Ioffe

The gangway rises and falls

With the pulse of the ocean

And life returns to the halls

Smiles and stories abound

With all that we saw

A perfect day concludes

With Happy Hour in the ba’

What we enjoyed today

May one day be no more

If climate continues to warm

And glaciers retreat from the shore

So let’s raise our glass

And toast to the ice

To an Antarctic experience

We will never have twice

A Weddell seal

Yes, found it the southern most bird in the world, a south pole skua. The only bird seen at the south pole,exciting !!!

Gentoo with the egg about to hatch. About 30 mins later.

Finally home after you have been out fishing all day and I here all day with the two little ones, nag nag nag.
But I have bought back some food and you can have the rest of the day to go for a swim and see if you can fish like me.

Just an Iceberg

A little berg about 4M tall

Here are his big brothers

Just a little ice

Nice bit of blue ice

Is this an icy animal and was he big.

Now we are seening some big boys

This one tipped at some time. The dark line running from lower left to upper right was the water line before it tipped over.
As they melt unevenly they will tip over and sometimes invert

A crap eater seal or a weddell with a leopard seal in the water.

Nasty leopard seal

Our Kayak team and their zodiac and the weddell seal.

Weddell seal and paparazzi.

Leopard seal and a warm Geraldine.

Now here is a big iceberg. This one was massive. Again see the ledge running from the most upper right hand point slopping down to the left, that was the water line before it tipped.