What a gorgeous day back in Ushuaia! We are getting ready to disembark and take a tour of Tierra Del Fuego National Park. We will eat lunch at the park and then head to the airport.
Btw-the Drake was much better than it was when we went to Antarctic. Our crew said that was the “Drake Lake”. I found it interesting because it definitely wasn’t smooth. There were a good number of people who felt sea sick due to a constant roll of the ship. The patch saved me—worked like a charm!
One note about last evening—our ship’s photographer put together a slide show with pictures he took, as well as those pictures we shared with him. It was amazing and really captured everything we did. He will share the presentation, along with all photos, in a couple of weeks. There were many professional photographers who are passengers on our ship with sophisticated cameras. (FYI there is a photographer on board that films nature and even won an Emmy).
We dock tomorrow and then spend two days traveling home via airplane. This has been a surreal and magical trip—more than I could have imagined! The staff/the crew are all outstanding. They know your name and are always striving to go above and beyond.
Antarctica exceeded my expectations — I have said this before but it’s other worldly. Serene, beautiful, primitive, wild, and unspoiled. A camera cannot capture the uniqueness of Antarctica, nor can words. It’s one of those “you have to see it to believe it”.
Everyone on board, including our expedition leaders, have been taking photos/videos and sharing to Ultramarine’s computer. The photographer on the Quark staff is putting all together and will send us the link so we can download the ones we want. There will also be a slide show tonight!
I just returned from the discussion about Humpback whales (Baleen whales). So fascinating! Some tidbits about these amazing mammals and their culture:
1. The tail that comes out of the water is called a fluke. They can be 18 feet wide and each fluke is unique. We saw one that had a chunk out of it’s fluke, for example. It’s like our fingerprints. When you see the fluke, you know you won’t see the whale for awhile as fluking helps them dive deep.
2. They sing songs—and are one of 4 whale species that do this. To be considered a song, it has to have: Melody, rhythm, pitch, and repetition. And the Humpbacks have this! You can find recordings on YouTube. Our biologist, Tom, walked us through an actual Humpback song. It is believed they use their songs as a way to establish the pecking order amongst the group, not for mating.
3. Their biggest predator is the Orca (Killer) whale —the Orcas focus in on the baby Humpbacks by separating from its mother and then dragging them down, essentially drowning them.
4. The Humpbacks are here in Antarctica during the summer months to feed. Their breakfast, lunch and dinner of choice are Krill.
5. They engage in a behavior called Bubble-net feeding. This occurs when whales blow bubbles from their noses to encircle their food (krill/fish) like a net, luring their prey into a tight ball. Then the whales swim together from beneath the water and rise to the surface opening their mouths to gulp up their prey. (We actually saw this behavior the night we camped)
6. Humpback whales range between 39 to 52 feet in length. They weigh on average 28-33 short tons, although they can be much heavier. The females are larger than the males because they need all that extra blubber for birthing.
Last full day on the Ultramarine! Tomorrow we disembark & tour Tierra Del Fuego National Park
We started back toward Ushuaia and it will take approximately 48 hours to get through the Drake Passage. We’re expecting some rough seas. Maybe 5 meter waves?
Also, yesterday (Jan. 5th) was my birthday. What a fantastic celebration that started in the morning when Laura (with the help of Cherry, the housekeeping staff) decorated the room with a sign, chocolates and a bouquet of flowers made out of towels. Laura gifted me some cute penguins socks, among other things. Then at dinner, they made and decorated a GF cake and all the wait staff and chefs sang. After dinner there was a staff talent show and I got pulled up on stage to karaoke (Build Me Up Buttercup) with two of the staff. While singing is something I don’t do in public, it was a birthday I’ll always remember! 🎂
The birthday bouquet made out of towelsMake a wish!Our incredible wait staff and new friends—Becky, Sian, Laura, Me and Hayley. Lorence in the front is the best waiter and we usually sat at one of his tables.
What a picture perfect day in Antarctica. There were penguins, it was snowing, and there were Humpback whales in the bay! A postcard afternoon.
Wifi has been slow so going to keep this post brief and show you some of the boisterous and amazing penguins at Palaver Point on Two Hummock Island in Antarctica. Lots of Chinstrap colonies and rookeries with baby chicks (penguins)
Chinstrap Penguins Some are lying on their nests or newly hatched babies
Icebergs, glaciers, whales, a ship wreck from 1915, a Crabeater seal, and Lichen welcomed us this morning on our zodiac cruise in Wilhelmina Bay.
A crabeater seal on a gorgeous iceberg. The bluer the iceberg, the older the ice. This is the Governoren ship in the middle—two other ships are viewing it on either side. In January 1915, the crew was celebrating another successful whaling trip below deck. Someone (probably partying too much), knocked a lamp off the table and the ship went up in flames. Remember what this ship did? Whaling. They had thousands of gallons of whale oil aboard. All men aboard were saved but the ship remains exactly where it went up in flames.
The brownish – rust stuff is Lichen (pronounced Like In), a complex life form that results due to a symbiotic partnership of two separate organisms, a fungus and an alga. Here is the poem—Fred Fungus met Alice Algae and they took a Lichen to each other 💚
Well, I just did it! “It” is SUP, which is an acronym for “stand up paddle-boarding” and I was very lucky to be a part of a group of 6 others who went SUPing in the Southern Ocean. We saw a humpback whale, lots of penguins swimming, navigated around icebergs from a safe distance, and were so close to the water! I will never forget this one. Started from my knees and eventually worked my way up to standing.
Working on my courage to stand up! SUP in the Southern Ocean (aka Antarctic Ocean)The ocean was like glass! And when my legs stopped shaking, it was one of the coolest experiences.
FYI – had trouble with this post and it posted like 4 times. I have deleted the others and may have accidentally deleted comments – apologies!!
Wow! Just wow. Unbelievable experience. Thanks to our guide, Sarah, for the lessons and the incredible spot to SUP!
After the paddle boarding experience, they took us to Damoy Point, which is a rocky isthmus off the west coast of Wiencke Island on the Antarctica Peninsula. There is another Gentoo Penguin Colony and an historic hut established by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in 1975. It was last occupied in 1993 but now is a museum of sorts for visitors. It also has supplies for emergency purposes. It’s unlocked so we could see it. In addition, there is an ice landing field above the hut, on top of the glacier. The British would use this to fly supplies to Rothera Research Station when they couldn’t move supplies by ship.
The hut is now an historic site and monument Gentoo Penguin Colony on Damoy Point with our ship, mountains and icebergs in the background. What a landscape! Kind of takes your breath away, doesn’t it?
After we returned to the ship from camping, we had a day full of adventure so no time to rest. Tonight we are exhausted, sun burned (even with lots of sunscreen), and full of memories!
Laura and I both kicked off our morning by adventuring out in the Zodiac. BTW—they split the guests into 4 groups and then call one group at a time for activities – Albatross (our group), Gentoo, Petrel, Humpback. In addition, have loading/unloading zodiacs down to perfection.
We’ve seen a ton of Humpbacks whales, we saw Fin whales, and today we also saw a Minke. I don’t have a picture because they move with a purpose and are back under the water before you can get your camera out.
Morning Zodiac cruise – We landed on Useful Island, the home to Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins. There were penguins EVERYWHERE! Hundreds (if not thousands) of them in colonies, most sitting on eggs. Their babies should be born very soon! Again, we abided by the minimum 5 meter rule but they are curious creatures who wander onto your path so then we have to back away. One such encounter happened while we were hiking up the hillside to see the Chinstrap. They are the cutest birds, curious, and attracted to the color red (because they eat krill who have a reddish color)
Zodiac Cruisin’ in the Gerlache Straight – lots and lots and lots of icebergs! Will try and post some on the photos page when wifi improves Two Gentoo Penguins on Useful Island A Gentoo penguin faces off with a Skua bird…who wants its egg!
It’s 7:00 am and just back from our overnight camping experience on Danco Island with 58 others from the ship. We had insulated sleeping bags and lots of layers but it was cold! Would we have changed our minds had we known how truly cold it would be? Absolutely not! What an amazing experience to sleep on the continent and experience nighttime. BTW-it was light the entire night. I woke up at 3:30 am and felt like it was still early evening after the sun sets.
Danco Island is home to lots of penguins – there’s a penguin colony and a penguin highway. The entire hill was covered with penguins. Our guides clearly marked where we slept which ensured we kept our distance from the penguins. We did have a little curious one that popped over to our campsite and eventually went back into the water. VERY IMPORTANT—our guides create a path for us and it’s important for us to stay on that path. If we wander off, we create deep holes with our muck boots. If a penguin falls into that hole, he cannot get out.
Our white noise was the Gentoo penguin’s continuous bleating, the majestic sound of calving (sounds like thunder) and the distinct noise of the humpback whales in the bay. Those whales can trumpet! It was so serene to breathe in my surroundings, listen, watch, and be amazed.
Look at those penguins enjoying the sunset!This pic was zoomed in significantly. We do not interact with the penguins, even those that wander close to you. We maintain, at a minimum, 5 meters (approx 15 feet)
The penguins are resilient little birds. They get knocked now and then get right back up again! I have so many videos. I will see if I can post one in the photo section.
I call this one “The 3 amigos”. They stuck together on that penguin highway like 3 best friends.
This experience deserves more details so stay tuned for a part 2.
One of the main reasons we choose Quark is because of their consciousness—to the environment, their guests, their employees. Everything they do is centered around safety for the continent and their guests. This is reflected in the mandatory meetings we go to, the history we learn, the wildlife we encounter, and their commitment to the standards set forth by IAATO for visitors to the continent.
The second reason we choose Quark is because of their amenities and what we just did—flight seeing! As I said in a prior post, there are two bright yellow Airbus H-145 on board. Every passenger on the ship gets to do one of these tours and we just did ours! We also signed up for the heli landing tour, which may or may not happen tomorrow. Everything (and I do mean everything) is dependent on the weather.
We only had 5 people—4 in the back and someone in the co-pilot’s seat. Everyone got a window seat! Hi Laura!Ready for take off!💛Cruisin’ over the Antarctica peninsula
The heli was super smooth and the weather cooperated. The day couldn’t have been any better with these views. WHOA! Seeing places where no person has stepped foot on…it’s overwhelming (in a good way) 😮
Yesterday, I sometimes didn’t know where the sky and the ground came together because of the snow and overcast skies.
Today, the sky and the ocean are one! Bluebird day at Fornier Bay. Lots and lots of humpback whales hanging around. We have to stay a good distance from them—unless they approach (like the one did with us yesterday). I caught a few tails!
In addition, we saw a female Leopard Seal hanging out on the ice. Again, we maintained our distance. It is their space, not ours. This type of seal is at the top of the food chain, along with Orcas (Killer Whales).
Note – NONE of these pictures are touched up in any way. Taken on my iPhone 13 Pro Max. This is Antarctica!
Leopard Sea soaking in the sun ☀️ – we were a ways away per the requirement—this is zoomed inOne of about 8 whales tails we saw todayNo words for this. Nature’s art canvas at work!
We will be going out adventuring in the zodiac this morn, flight seeing (via helicopter) this afternoon, and then camping on the peninsula tonight. You should see the kit we have to keep warm. Although temp right now at 9:10 am is 41 degrees Fahrenheit, it will drop this evening.
Woke up to THIS outside our cabin window. We are in Fornier Bay.
Fyi—may have to remove the picture from this post as wifi isn’t working very well. Like Laura said, “Well, we are in Antarctica!”
We took the Zodiac to the passage, explored the amazing icebergs and saw some humpback whales—in fact one went right under our Zodiac!! I have the video to prove it but it will not upload. I will try again later.
Our guide said that this has only happened to her once before in her 9 years of leading expeditions!
A Weddell Seal taking a little nap! He was directly in our path so the expedition guides created a new path for us 🦭 Chillin’ and breathing in some really fresh air!
Pictures will never do this justice. Today was the first expedition via the Zodiac to Portal Point and Charlotte’s Bay. It was our first continent landing.
History: Portal Point is on the Reclus Peninsula. It’s a long stretch directly from the Polar Plateau. There once was a refuge hut built by the British and in operation from 1956-1997. They could use a nearby snow slope as a gateway up onto the Peninsula plateau. The hut is no longer around.
Be sure to also check out our other pictures on the “Antarctica Photos” page.
Christina’s Journey Journal 