Tuesday, March 12, 2019 – Another spectacular weather day!
I keep thinking we’re going to get slammed with weather, but each day so far we have had really great weather and superb conditions for exploring on land and by zodiac. That doesn’t mean its necessarily easy, conditions can change quickly and sometimes the wind is a little overwhelming, my fingers feel frozen and I just wanna go home… but according to the crew, this cruise has had the best, most consistent weather they have seen in their experience. I hope it holds for the remainder of the trip!
Today we are anchored in Wilhelmina Bay, discovered in the late 1800s and named after Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands. This area is known for its great number of whales, and also for a shipwreck that is quite photogenic.–The Governoren. In 1915, the Governoren was at sea, performing her duties as a floating whale factory. At the end of the mission, the crew threw a wild party that got out of hand and the ship caught fire, with the oil of more than 400 whales on board! The whale oil fueled the fire and the ship was a complete loss, while the entire crew escaped the danger and were rescued by another whaling ship nearby. Some of our crew members are shown on an episode of a Netflix program called Blue Planet. David Attenborough kicks off the first program in the series, and I think that’s they one our crew is on.
Just across a small channel are other remains of this or another incident, two small wooden boats are perched weathering on the rocks.
These skeletal remains of a previous era serve as a perpetual reminder of the whaling industry that nearly decimated the world’s population of whales. It continues today in many countries, that have cultural and nutritional values based on the taking of whales.
One of our guides told a story a few nights ago about his time aboard a Sea Shepherd organization ship, the Steve Irwin, in Antarctic waters. Its too long to relate here, but the video footage and accompanying stories were both intriguing and frightening. A true David v. Goliath organization fighting for conservation of the sea and its inhabitants. I’ll try to remember to find some links to the story / videos when I get home and post one here.
Here’s a similar video, not the one that was shown on the ship, as I think that was filmed by the guide who showed it. The passion of these people is amazing, and way beyond the commitment of most of the human race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsqWyhCPK9A
After viewing the wrecks, we took off to find whales, and ran across intruders, only the second ship we’ve seen.
Our guide today was Jean, whose home is in Merced, CA, but who spends a few months a year guiding visitors to Antarctica after spending about three months conducting penguin research near the Ross Ice Shelf. She, too, demonstrates a passion and commitment that is unmatched—hers is in terms of pursuing knowledge of penguin lives and perils, and sharing that knowledge with others. She REALLY wanted to find some whales that we could get close to, then shut down the motor and just observe. It took a while, but she delivered.
We came across one small humpback near the ship, but it appeared to be sleeping, so we moved on to find more action. It was fun to ride in the zodiac today, as it was clear and warmer than some of the previous days. We rode around for about 45 minutes, surrounded by stunning beauty of the land on all sides, with no more whale sightings.
Across a small bay, we saw a couple of other zodiacs and heading in their direction, when suddenly a whale surfaced just about 10 feet from our boat. The motor was immediately killed, and whale went under the front of our boat and resurfaced. It blew out a big spout, arched its back (a sign that they might be diving deep) and went under, displaying a beautiful tail/fluke just a few feet away from us. Everyone in the zodiac went absolutely crazy with excitement, and Jean was so thrilled about this chance encounter. Luckily, I had my camera around my neck and on, and was able to capture a beautiful image.
Several more whales and flukes were spotted during our ride back to the ship, but none could top what we had already seen.
After lunch, the ship was repositioned to Palaver Point, the site of a Chinstrap penguin colony. The Chinstraps are so named due to a thin black line of feathers across the white section beneath the bill. They appear to be wearing little helmets! This was our first, and only, mass viewing of the Chinstrap species. They were much more shy than the Gentoos, and most of them were still showing signs of molting, so we gave them a wide berth. A few more curious ones came close, but not like the Gentoos.
Another zodiac cruise followed the visit to the penguin colony, and we were able to spot several whales and seals. We were quite a ways away from the ship, so we started to head back because the wind was picking up. When we got about halfway back, we took shelter being a big iceberg for a few minutes, and the guide had us put our camera equipment into our waterproof bags. A strong wind come from seemingly nowhere, the white caps appeared suddenly all around us, and we made a run for the ship. We couldn’t go very fast because the swell was high and the boat was being tossed around pretty good. The 15 or so minutes it took to get back to the ship seemed like hours, and we arrived covered in seawater, but exhilarated and happy. That just happened to be my last zodiac ride of this incredible adventure!
Back aboard ship and just before dinner, all passengers and Quark crew were invited out to the aft deck for a toast to Antarctica and a group photo. Nothing really too special until just after the photo was taken and the crowd was beginning to disperse. Then, from nowhere, a large humpback whale breached about 25 yards from the ship. Not everyone saw it, but a collective gasp went out and then it breached again AND twirled in the air! It was swimming in the opposite direction of the ship, and we were able to see it for a couple more minutes and it breached at least 7 more times! It was a magical ending to my visit to Antarctica…
Travels with Nance 