Tuesday, 19/12/2023
Location: World Explorer, Danco Island
Agenda: Skip the morning cruise and sail to Danco Island, Zodiac Cruise, Onboard Auction
Antarctica Is Not Always Majestical
Yesterday was beautiful. Today… Today is stormy, windy, and cold. I can’t blame Antarctica. Weather in Antarctica can turn at any moment. Today, it turned out, and we had a very cold day. We were not able to go Zodiac cruising in the morning because it was too windy and the waves were too big, so instead, we cruised to Danco Island. On the way we had a little entertainment provided by no other than the Great Breaching Whale!!!
So, You Saw a Whale Breach?
Yeah, I saw a whale breach, not once, not twice, but over 40 times!!!!! When a whale breeches, it expends 2-5% of its daily energy. This whale breached non-stop for over 40 minutes with over 40 breaches!!! Usually, on the ship, when a whale breaches, they announce it, but the whale is done by the time you get to the right side of the ship. This time, they announced it once, thinking it was a one-time thing. About 15 minutes into the breaching, they announced it again, telling people that they weren’t gonna miss it. They announced it twice more, each time sounding more and more excited! Annie, the marine biologist who specialized in whales, was stunned. All the guides on the ship, some of whom had over 30 years of polar trips, said they had never seen a whale do this. It was a natural phenomenon! It was pretty insane!
The Bridge
Since the whale stole 40 min out of our voyage to Danco Island, we had extra time. Time enough to do bridge tours! The bridge is the part of the ship that the captain steers from and controls everything. It was really cool to visit! It was very quiet and spacious, with wraparound windows and “wings” that go over the side of the ship to see the side of the ship. There were two main captain chairs in the main controlling area, which had sonar, radar, and other fancy equipment. There was a chart room and the captain’s quarters all in the bow of the ship! I ended up visiting the bridge twice because I did not have much else to do, and it was cool, so why not?
Warning: Zodiac Cruising Can Be Wet
Be aware that when you are in a small boat in waves, the ocean can rise to meet you in full force. I am probably making it sound super dramatic, but what I am saying is I got wet. It wasn’t really a surprise because it was raining and it was very windy, which made bigger waves. The good thing is that I had some pretty awesome waterproof pants, so it was really only my face and coat that got wet. Lol
My biggest tip is BRING WATERPROFF PANTS! Some people did not, and they were sad and wet. The waterproof difference is really big. If you are sitting on the cold side of the Zodiac when you are soaked is not fun. Bring pants that have unzippable breather sides so you don’t overheat when it is sunny and warm.
Back to the Cruise
Our afternoon Zodiac driver was Jensinna from Alaska. She took us to watch a penguin colony that had elephant seals on the beach! The penguins were the best part, though. They were waddling up this big hill and tobogganing down. It looked like a penguin ski resort! They had little penguin highways that they would all share, walking in a line, stopping at the top, and sliding down. The penguins who were going down probably did not just make it to the top, but that’s what it looked like! I guess this is when people think penguins are cute. 🙂 We also saw some Ice caves and Ice cliffs, which was pretty cool! We had to head in quickly because the waves and wind started picking up.
Auctioning in Antarctica
What better pastime in Antarctica than an auction? On the second to last night in Antarctica, the on-board penguin research team held an auction to raise money. It was a lot of fun! Adrian, the assistant expedition leader, was the auctioneer, talking very fast and raising the price of things almost as fast! Some of the stuff auctioned was swag from the penguin organization, but some of the things were pretty cool! There was a map of our voyage with art on it done by Valarie (The same person who did the art on the back of my Antarctica sweater). There was also a bottle of Antarctic Glacial Water which got lots of laughs. One of the guides also was making good jokes out of it. Ian, the historian, was showing the bottle around, and Adrian was joking that Ian is over 100 years old because he drinks glacial water, and that’s how he knows all the history of Antarctica so well!! It was pretty funny! Those were the coolest things, but there were many other things auctioned off. I was sad for it to be the second to last night, and I started to be worried about leaving. Nobody ever wants to say goodbye to Antarctica.
Here are the Photos from the day!
