Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Location: 60° 37′ 9″ S. 46° 3′ 7″ W
High Temperature: 36°. Low Temperature: 33°
Officially in Antarctica!
For a bonus stop, South Orkney did not disappoint!
The South Orkney Islands are located 375 miles from the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and have a total area of 620 sq. km. They are actually connected to the Antarctic Peninsula by an underwater mountain range. There are four main islands and the archipelago is over 85% glaciated. They are claimed by both Argentina and Great Britain, but have no permanent residents. The South Orkneys are home to the oldest continually run research center in Antarctica. In the winter, the Antarctic pack ice comes this far north, and the islands are usually iced in.
The islands were named by sealer James Weddell, possibly because they are at the same latitude south that the Orkney Islands are north. Sealing and whaling decimated the wildlife, but they have rebounded well in recent years.
We headed out first thing this morning for a Zodiac cruise between Coronation and Monroe islands with Bryan the bird guy, which was fascinating. Not being a “bird person,” it was interesting to hear all the names of the birds we saw, although I’m still not sure I could point them out again if I had to! We saw cape petals, snow petals, and more! Bryan was most excited about the southern fulmars that were nesting in the rocky cliffs.
I was most interested in the chinstrap penguins! There were so many of them! We got an up close look at some swimming through the water, well actually they swim a bit and then fly out of the water, and swim again… kind of like a dolphin does. They are fast too – they can swim up to 20 miles per hour!
Chinstrap penguins are also known as stone breaker penguins, not only because they use stones to build their nests, but also because their screech is so piercing, it’s said to break stones! They like to steal stones from one another, and get quite protective of their nest stones! In fact, they are one of the most aggressive species of penguins! Chinstrap penguins grow to be about 28 inches tall and can weigh 6-11 pounds.
I could not believe how many chinstraps were on the rocks! In fact, from a distance the rocks just looked fuzzy because there were so many penguins! It was fun to watch them hop up and down the the snowy face of the cliffs, and we even caught one or two laying on their bellies and sledding down the snow for a bit!
We also got to see three Weddell Seals. Weddell Seals were discovered and named by James Weddell in the 1820’s. These seals can grow to be 10 feet long, weigh 1,200 pounds, and live to the age of thirty. The spend most of their time under the Antarctic ice, hauling out to rest, molt or give birth. They can dive to a depth of 2,000 feet and stay under water for 45 minutes. The three we saw were lazing away on the rocks, but they did lift their heads to check us out as we glided by.
The treat of the morning was the leopard seal we encountered who swam right up to our Zodiac to check us out! They really do have a very menacing grin on their faces that makes you think that they are sizing you up for a meal! Leopard seals are the second largest seal in Antarctica and can grow up to three feet long and 500 kgs. In the wild they can live for 26 years. Their only predator is the orca.
Once everyone was back on board and we had our delicious lasagna lunch, they let us know of our new plan for today! Apparently the hike we were going to do this afternoon is a no-go, so the captain has a surprise for us. We are headed a few hundred miles away to see the world’s largest (well, currently largest) iceberg. We should arrive there tomorrow morning!
We settled in to watch the parade of icebergs, and the announcement was made “whale on the port side!” The captain was able to slow us down and change course so we could follow the whale for bit. It turned out to be a blue whale! The largest creature to ever have lived on earth! They can grow to be 98 feet long and weigh 395,000 pounds. Just their tongue outweighs an elephant and their heart outweighs a car! We saw it blow several times and then he went down for a deep dive, so we got to see most of his body roll through the water. It was just amazing!
Dancing Down the Trail 