March 1 - Seno Ballena and Puerto Profundo

We began our morning with a ships cruise of Seno Ballena, the Bay of Whales. On the approach to the area, we saw a number of South American Fur Seals frolicking (or frockiling, as Carla would say) around the ship. They were so great and these were the first marine mammals that these passengers have seen, so they were very excited. Our good luck was with us and we also spotted some Humpback Whales. This was very nice because when you tell passengers that, "we hope to see some whales", they take that as, "we will definitely see whales", and it puts the pressure on. It is amazing to me that some people do not understand that wildlife moves and is unpredictable; however, I can't blame people for getting excited at the potential. But we did see a few Humpbacks, and they were cooperating with us, swimming around the ship and showing their flukes for people who wanted to get that perfect photograph.

In the afternoon, we did a zodiac cruise at Puerto Profundo (Deep Bay). As to not alert the Chilean Navy, we were stealthy, dropping the zodiacs at the mouth of the Bay whilst the ship carried on like nothing was unusual. Then, after an hour or so, the ship turned around and came back to get us. The cruise was amazing, taking us through narrow passageways and around small islands. Very picturesque. We saw many birds, intertidal creatures and flowers. We had hoped to see some South American Sea Lions, but, like I mentioned before, wildlife is unpredictable and none were there. The people in my zodiac loved the cruise as did I and it felt good to get off the ship for a few hours. Although this cruise so far has been great, it is a little hard to transition from the Antarctic schedule where we were off the ship for the majority of the day. Here, we do more scenic cruising from the ship, and in the next few days we will start having tours on land.


Puerto Profundo