February 24 - Staff and More Photos

Before signing off on this blog for the 2007 Antarctic season, I wanted to
include one last photo of the staff and some more photos that were given to
me from other people that I just love.


Staff Photo


Curious Gentoo penguin chick
Photo credit: Natalia Baechtold


Hiking in Neko Harbor
Photo credit: Natalia Baechtold


More penguin love in Aitcho Island
Photo credit: Carrie Jennings


Rainbow in Beagle Channel
Photo credit: Rusty Evans


Penguins in Flight
Photo credit Rusty Evans


Please follow my travels in the Chilean Fjords and Cape Horn at http://www.oceanlori.com/chileblog07.html

February 23 - Leaving Antarctica

Last night we steamed away from Antarctica and into the Drake Passage. It was a strange goodbye for me and I haven't been able to process my feelings about it yet. I keep mentioning how special this place is and the way that it pulls you in and captures your heart and soul. I wish I could share it with each and every one of you. Last night we had a BBQ out on the back deck with the staff and officers. As a treat, about 10 Humpback whales showed up to give us a goodbye show. They were feeding and it was great to watch them off the stern in our own world without having to interpret or drive zodiacs.

After dinner, the crew had another dance party down in crew mess. It was a nice way to blow off some steam, but I have to admit that I was pretty shattered from the long day and the emotions that I was having trouble processing. In the middle of the party, I took a break and went out on deck by myself. While out there, I saw a bright planet looking object in the sky - the only light out there in the sky. No other stars, nothing. I had no idea what it was, so I went back in and asked Rusty. He came out and told me that it was the Southern star, and then turned to me, smiled and said, "it means winter is here as you only see it in the winter time". I guess that means that the austral summer and the season is officially over. Goodbye Antarctica.

February 22 - Lemaire Channel, Pleneau Island, Petermann Island, Port Lockroy

Our last day in Antarctica - it was a long one and I was not ready for it to end. It started off on the bridge at 5 am as we transited the Lemaire Channel. The Lemaire is so picturesque, especially with the morning light. There was no wind through the channel, so I was able to get some nice reflection photos.

At 6 am we started our zodiac cruise at Pleneau Island. The first thing we discovered on our cruise was this amazing ice arch! Since everything here is so massive, it is easy to lose size perspective, so I couldn't tell you how large it is. I have attached a photo for you with two zodiacs in the photo (can you find them?) so you can try and get some perspective. As the morning went on, the light got better and better and I probably could have stayed with the iceberg all morning and just photographed it. Instead, we went around the area looking for seals and whales, and we found both! Two Minke whales surfaced off the bow of my zodiac (too quick for photos) and we found about 6 Leopard seals on the ice and in the water. My zodiac missed it, but near the end of the cruise one of the Leopard seals took a penguin for breakfast. Yum yum.


Iceberg Arch

After coming back to the ship and having breakfast, we landed on Petermann Island. The weather today followed our same lucky pattern as yesterday, and it was sunny and calm once again. It was cold out though, and any time the sun was blocked by a cloud or the wind blew, I could really tell that the Antarctic summer was close to ending. At Petermann I was able to take a short hike to check out the Adelie and Gentoo penguins and had some fun watching some of the younger penguins taking a "swim class" in some melt water. They are too funny! They would get into the water and pretty much float with their heads in and wings out. Then they would flap their wings, splashing a ton, and probably wonder why they didn't go anywhere. Sometimes, they would put their wings into the water with their head out. Usually, at this point, they would magically lose control of one wing and only flap one, resulting in some awkward sidestroke. I watched one chick with so much down still on it try to get into the water, only to change its mind when it couldn't get its head or wings in a horizontal position to even try to swim. I sat there and watched the scene for around 30 minutes. The photo I chose to attach shows a few penguins flapping their wings in a mostly vertical position, but I hope you can get the feel for the funny movement and picture the next frame of them flopping on their bellies while still flapping. Again, this is a place where video would do this scene more justice.


Swim class

After lunch, we went to Port Lockroy to visit the museum there. I drove zodiacs and shuttled people to the station and also gave a short zodiac cruise of the area. The scenery there in the sunshine is amazing and I didn't realize how tall some of the peaks there are since last year I only saw it in the fog or clouds. Since it was our last stop of the trip, I made a point to have some silent time with each of the zodiac groups I took out. It was well received by the passengers and some told me it was the highlight of the trip. I didn't tell them that the silent moment to "take it all in" was almost more for me than for them.

February 21 - Cuverville Island, Neko Harbor, Paradise Bay

We awoke this morning to no wind and beautiful sunshine - a total opposite of yesterday. Cuverville Island looked so beautiful in the sun and I was surprised to see that I was not assigned to drive zodiacs, but instead to hike to the top of the hill with Rick. What a gorgeous day to hike! And what great views of the penguins and the landscape with the sun just rising. However, the irony of the morning was that the first Cuverville landing that I am not driving zodiacs is the first time that Humpback whales show up to play with the zodiacs for three hours. I watched with some jealousy as the humpbacks played with the staff zodiacs. Eventually, I was able to head out to them and got to spend about ten minutes with the three whales before it was time to head back to the ship. It was an incredible experience just to be that close to them in the water. You really get a new perspective on how large they are when they are swimming so close to the zodiacs. Just for some perspective, I've attached a photo of the whales amongst the zodiacs.


Zodiacs with whales

Neko Harbor was also beautiful, and again, I got to hike. It was the day of the hike for me. What an amazing day. The sun made the cold temperatures feel almost tropical and I was able to shed my jacket, hat and gloves. Cheli and Rusty even went in their shorts and Cheli spontaneously swam! Well, it was sort of spontaneous. It was low tide and there was an exposed rock just off of shore. For a fun photo, Rusty dropped her off on the rock and then pushed a small ice piece up to it so it looked like she was standing in her shorts on a very small berg. All the people watching started saying she should swim since she has never swum in the Antarctic, so she just dove into the water and swam to shore. Brrr.the water temperature was 2 degrees centigrade.

Anyway, the trek up to the top was amazing and the subsequent views of the glacier and the harbor incredible. Words and photos cannot really describe it, as is the case with much of what I see and do here. What made it even more special was that it was the continental landing, so now I really feel like I've spent some quality time on the continent. On my way down back to the landing site, I saw a young penguin chick running around in circles flapping its wings. It was so funny I had to stop and photograph it. I've attached a small photo trying to catch the action - this is a time where I wish I had video.


Cute chick

In the evening we went to Paradise Bay and cruised around the glaciers and ice. Here, we were treated to a beautiful pink sunset. I've attached one last photo of the day of the scenery.


Paradise sunset

February 20 - Deception Island (Baily Head & Whalers Bay) and Hannah Point

Today was snowy and off and on windy. The wind seemed to come and go with the correct timing; we were able to do all of our planned landings and the wind seemed to pick up just as we were leaving somewhere or in between landings while we were cruising.

We started the day off at Baily Head for the third time. Baily Head, as I've mentioned, is a really difficult landing and there is always a 50-50 chance of getting there. We are lucky that we've been 3-3. The landing this time was special because everything was covered in fresh snow and I'd never seen it looking like that before. The landscape was just beautiful, as were the penguins. There were a lot of fur seals on the beach and some of the younger ones were curious about us. This would be ok if they also didn't have sharp teeth and a habit of biting. Usually, the fur seals are easy to scare off if you raise your arms at them and make some noise. Not always for the young ones, where it sometimes takes waving an orange flag at them. At the shore, we had one very curious seal that came all the way to the life jacket bag and peered at us around the corner before we eventually scared it away. I've attached a photo of this curious seal.


Curious fur seal

After Baily Head we went to Whalers' Bay for a hike and so that the passengers could take a polar plunge. It sure was polar today since there was absolutely NO geothermal activity at all. I was driving a zodiac along with Kevin and Rusty and while we were waiting for the passengers to return from their hikes, we hid out in one of the rusty old whaling structures. Kevin brought hot chocolate for us and we stayed dry and reasonably warm while we waited. I've attached a photo of the boys staying warm and toasty.



Inside whaling structure

In the afternoon we went to Hannah Point, another one of my favorite landings. This time I got to go see the Elephant seals. They are so stinky, but so cute with their big eyes. I've attached a photo. Just as we were leaving Hannah Point, the wind kicked up and we had a rocky evening on the ship.


Elephant Seal

February 19 - Aitcho Island and Half Moon Island

So Aitcho Island may be my favorite place in the Antarctic. I don't know what it is about the penguin chicks there but they seem to be way more curious than anywhere else we go. Today, we had chicks climbing on top of people, in people's laps, on backpacks and even on the lifejacket bags. There was one woman laying on the ground that had about five on her, one nestled under her chin around her neck! Amazing. I couldn't resist and had to put in a couple more penguin and Lori shots. The first one is just to show how many penguins there were surrounding us at any one time. Can you count the penguins in this photo?? For those of you who don't want to, there are eight, with one approaching from the left that you cannot see in this photo. That one promptly came up to me and started biting my jacket. They are super inquisitive and use their mouths like babies to explore everything and anything. Straps, jackets, strings, fingers.. you name it. In addition, the fuzzy one behind the one that is coming towards me ended up jumping on the life jacket bag and laying down in front of my face. I could have stayed there for hours!

In the afternoon we went back to Half Moon Island and I had a great walk along the shore and hung out with the penguins, fur seals and one big fat funny Weddell seal. It was a nice warm and sunny afternoon - much warmer than the morning.

Tonight as I write this I plan on going to bed early. I haven't been sleeping well lately and the next three days are going to be super hectic as they always are for this span of the trip. The next three days are early wakeups and late evenings. It's tiring, but I sure do love it.



Photos:


Count the Penguins


My friend

February 18 - Drake Passage - Life Through a Porthole

So I have not written at all about my accommodations this year. I have been lucky and was given a single cabin at the aft of the ship. I even have a porthole! The cabin is over the engine so it is hot and a little loud, but I like the constant hum and warm floor in the bathroom.

I wanted to share a few photos from a series that I like to call, "Life Through a Porthole". I've been having fun taking these, and hope to add more to the collection this trip.


A rough Drake



The sea at night



Zodiac returning to the ship

February 16 - Falkland Islands

I apologize for taking the last few days off from writing. We had a more hectic than usual turn around day and I didn't really have a chance to do much of anything in Ushuaia except get some ice cream at the best ice cream shop ever. And then it was back out to sea to the Falklands. It was sunny for the first time at both Carcass and New Island and I had a great day. In the morning I took the long hike again and it was great. I think because of the sunshine and low winds many of the penguins and birds were out and about. On the way back to the ship, there were about 10 Commerson's Dolphins riding around the bow of the zodiac. It was a ton of fun to watch them and play with them for a little before returning to the ship.

In the afternoon, we went to New Island. I got to run up to the cliffs early again to get some nice alone time with the birds, and then came back and worked the landing so Cheli could have her alone time too. I always love seeing the changes at the colony and this time was no exception. The Albatross chicks are getting too big for their nests and many of them are losing their grey down. Many of the Rockhopper penguin chicks had fledged and a lot of the adults were molting.

But today was all about the Cormorants, or Blue Eyed Shags. I went over to a rock with some of the passengers and sat down to take some photos of the young birds and one of them decided to come over and say hi. Once one got up the nerve, about 30 followed! I'm not kidding. It was almost like attack of the birds. They were so inquisitive and funny. As you can see by the photo attached, the lens I had on my camera was just too big for the situation. Much thanks to Mick for this photo. This photo was taken pretty late in the game after the birds had gotten bored with pulling at my Velcro and trying to eat my boots and knees. Too funny. It was a great encounter.


Photo - credit Mick Brown. Curious young Shags

February 13 - Drake Passage and Karaoke

Today is our second day in the Drake. The seas have been relatively calm, however, I have not had much of a chance to enjoy the nice breezes and views from the bridge. Rusty and I have been basically locked in a cabin working on the end of the trip slide show since yesterday morning. We just finished showing the final product and I am very proud of our efforts. It is rewarding to put the show together, although sometimes I feel that people don't realize how much work it actually takes to put something like that on. Luckily Rusty is very organized and we were on the same page with our style, so it made the process go super smoothly.

We took a break last night to go to the crew Valentines Day party with the other expedition staff. They were having a Karaoke contest judged by the Chief Mate and Chief Engineer. In addition, they had a "love note" box available for people to drop messages in. The crew on the ship are so great - they are all from the Philippines and they couldn't be nicer. The Karaoke was perhaps the best thing I've seen in a long time. I've been trying to figure out how to explain a Karaoke night on the Clipper Adventurer but am having a hard time putting words to the event. First of all, the Karaoke machine is old - one of the ones that runs with the video behind it. The videos seem to all be of women in bikini's doing various things..sailing, golfing, taking showers.you get it. They don't go with the song at all. Not the most enticing for the female crew to want to get up and sing. The next is the microphone. They have it set up on echo during the announcement time, so picture this, "now singing singing singing, Drew from the galley galley galley". And the best part of all - they love to sing love songs, and with passion! Picture someone with a heavy accent singing "Against All Odds" in not the best of tune but with feeling, and you've got Karaoke night. American Idol outtakes have nothing on this. But what I love most is that they love it and are having a great time and enjoying every minute of it and supporting each other every step of the way. There is such camaraderie on the ship with the crew and it makes the atmosphere aboard so wonderful. Even the Captain participated with a fine off tune rendition of "Wonderful Tonight". It's rare to see a Captain so involved with the crew - Philipp is great and I love working for him.

The love note reading was even better. The best part was hearing them read the notes in Tagalog first and hearing everyone laugh and hoot and holler. Then the English translations. Some of the notes said things like, "I can't help that I love you, even though I'm married and love my wife too."

Anyway, tonight is our farewell dinner and I thought that I'd have some time this afternoon to catch up on some much needed sleep. However, the slides took longer than expected. The last few days of the trip really wore me out, getting up so early in the morning and going to bed so late. This job is fun, but it can be both mentally and physically exhausting. But in the end, it's exhilarating and I'm looking forward to our next cruise, the last of the season down here in the Antarctic.