I did go out to see a leopard seal on an iceberg, then back to sleep. 7:30 to breakfast. News traveled fast and everyone was giving us young swimmers the elbow for our little adventure. Then we find that this morning’s excursion is to Petermann Island to see a Gentoo penguin colony!
The penguins here were mostly chicks, in various stages of their molt, so they had off bunches of fuzz on their bodies. Most of the adults had already headed back to sea.
OH MY GOD What an amazing experience. The Antarctic treaty regulations state that you must stay 15 feet away from wildlife and do nothing that will influence their behavior. There were penguins EVERYWHERE and the regulations don’t say anything about the penguins approaching you.
So back up a bit. Dutch and everyone on the staff make a big deal of the fact that everything down here is weather dependant. The weather can change in a flash and you have to be prepared for that. It can go from glassy water and light snow to choppy water and wind and driving snow very quickly like yesterday afternoon, or it can go from
very foggy and windy and driving snow
to sunny and amazing like it did this morning. So we’re on the first zodiac, all bundled up. The gangway was icy and I had my ski goggles on because it was snowing and blowing. The snow put a lovely white covering on the penguin poo covered rocks making it look and smell much more pleasant. Plus, it was a light and fluffy snow which really was lovely to sit in. So by the time we reached the penguin colony, the wind had stopped. There’s already a penguin waiting to meet us on the rocks.
Quick briefing and we’re off. I walked a bit away from the zodiac landing site, carefully choosing my path, as there were penguins everywhere, and sat down in the snow. Jacques came and laid down.
The penguins almost immediately started coming over to us. It was amazing. These penguin chicks came right over to us with very little hesitation.
Others lounged nearby,
splashed around in the pool,
walked up or slid down the hill
or yelled at an invading skua.
But life went on as usual for these penguins despite the 60 or 70 people tramping around.
I hiked around a bit and found a clump of Adele penguins and sat and watched them for a bit.
They were a bit less curious but still very comfortable around us. So peaceful and then the sun came out. Shining off the water and the ice and rocks and snow and the beautiful white chests of the penguins. We were all peacefully co-habitating and it really was amazing. I found my happy place! So for 3 hours I roamed around but mostly sat and let them come to me or just lounge near me. There were a bunch of people with great cameras there taking great pictures. So by 11, most people had left to cruise or go back to the boat. I stuck around and actually ended up getting regurgitated on
by an adorable penguin who quite resembled Don King.
I think I looked hungry.
It was the most wonderful, peaceful, serene place. I ended up taking 100 pictures and 4 adorable videos of the rag tag little penguins. I never tried to touch them because they were so comfortable with us around, I didn't want to do anything that might make them uncomfortable. They don't have any predators on the land, just the leopard seals, but those are from the water, so they have no reason to be afraid of us, and I wouldn't want to do anything to change that. So at noon, as the last zodiac left, I was amazing and in love. Such an awesome experience. Apparently the cruisers had a close encounter with 3 young leopard seals, but I wouldn’t trade my 3 hours on Petermann Island for anything in the world.
I have never sat so still or been so quiet in my life, and for those of you who know me, that really is amazing! I realized that my Antarctica tattoo has just changed It’s not something to do with a penguin. It really was an absolutely amazing experience. As corny as it sounds, I was one of them. They were happy with me being there with them just sitting and enjoying the breathtaking views. Wonderful. So back on the boat for lunch and we find out that tonight we get to camp on the ice if we want. They warn that it’s going to be cold and probably long and miserable but hell, I may never get back here again, so I’m taking the afternoon off from touring. Dad went to another penguin colony but after last night’s festivities and this morning’s amazement, I just want to lay down and soak it all in. So pictures are downloaded, journal is caught up. I’m going to take a nap.
Well, we were supposed to go camping, but it was called off because of weather, so a quiet night. Went back through LaMeire passage so we were on the bow watching and doing the wave and being silly. Then I spent an hour chatting with Anthony from Atlanta on the bridge, dinner, 2 beers at the bar, then to bed by 11.
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