Today was full of unexpected treats. It started with a Zodiac cruise to Gourdin Island on the western end of Antarctic Sound. The weather was true North Peninsular stuff, wind and horizontal wet snow. We could see all three Brush-tailed penguins, Adelies, Gentoos and Chinstraps on the rocks that surrounded the bay. Then, as the second wave of Zodiac cruises began, two Leopard seals could be seen attacking and feeding on the young Adelies very close to the boats. Nature can be brutal, but it was fascinating to watch the drama unfolding all around us. Young penguins desperately tried to climb on to small icebergs, but as they lost their footing and slipped back into the water they were picked off by the seals.
After all that excitement, the Captain took the ship through the Antarctic sound to Brown Bluff (63 32S, 56 55W) at its eastern entrance. This beach is well named with high, brown cliffs towering over it. The Zodiac drivers managed to find a landing site among the blocks of car-sized ice blocks that were all along the beach, and the guests were able to have a leisurely stroll around the Adelie and Gentoo rookeries.
Then it was back to the ship to warm up, but before the evening ‘recap’ talks began, Lucho, the expedition leader, announced that there were Killer Whales off the bow. No time for talks, everyone grabbed binoculars and cameras and went to any vantage point they could find to watch these magnificent creatures as they cruised through the ice flows. We have two Killer Whale scientists onboard, and along with Lindblad naturalist Stephanie Martin as Zodiac driver, they approached the whales in the hope of fixing some tags on them with a cross bow.
What a start to the expedition! The wind dropped and a hazy sun setting over a mirror-like sea brought the day to a close.
