January 13-14, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy

January 13, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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Woke up early and was at breakfast by 7 AM. Our plans were to have an early Zodiac landing (8 AM) and hence the reason for the early wake up and breakfast. We boarded our Zodiacs by 8 AM to reach DANCO Island which is located in the Southern Part of the ERRERA Channel. We wended our way through numerous ice floes (nothing big enough to warrant being called an iceberg) before reaching the landing area at DANCO Island.

Delphine (our Zodiac driver and the onboard Biologist) pointed out that we were surrounded by the Antarctic Peninsula. We were sailing at last in Antarctic waters and will perhaps set foot on the Peninsula in the next few days. Most of the group went away on a hike. As I did not want to hike up to yet another "viewpoint", I wandered around the beach area. I spotted many Gentoo Penguins (the name has Origins in the word HINDOO) and also spotted a lone ADELIE Penguin which was a rare sight on this Island. I went a bit overboard and took a dozen pictures of the ADELIE penguin! I was however more selective in taking pictures of GENTOO penguins.

We headed back to the ship after cruising through more ice floes on the way back.

After Lunch we were alerted to the spotting of a couple of Humpback whales. They did not come anywhere close to our boat (unlike the mother and calf pair from a few days ago) and I took 2 pictures!

We were heading towards a place called USEFUL Island in the middle of GERLACHE Strait (I am not making these names up!). I listened to Beethoven´s 7th until we dropped anchor near the island at 3 PM. Geared up (Waterproof pants, 2 layers of socks, Quark Jacket, Wellington boots and life vest and my camera bag of course) and headed towards Useful Island on Zodiacs.

There was yet another "hike". I passed and stayed around the beach. As most of the crowd goes away, once can get some peace and quiet and possibly some good pictures! There were numerous GENTOO penguins with young chicks. I got a few good pictures. Upon out return trip on the Zodiac, we passed a "Parliament" of Penguins. After the Zodiac Engine was shut off, the "Parliament" dived and swam around us. They played around us for at least 10 minutes. I took numerous pictures of which a few came out quite well. It is very hard to catch a Penguin diving. I managed to get 1 shot!

After our return to the ship, we had tea and cookies and I chatted with my fellow travellers. Around 6 PM, we gathered at the Bar and the expedition team "recapped" the last 2 days for us. As we travel quite frequently to different islands, it is nice to have a recap of what we have seen and experienced. We have been quite lucky to have ad excellent weather.

After dinner, I copied my memory cards to my Hard drives, played cards with my fellow travellers (IDIOT is the popular game of choice!) and chatted.

Tomorrow we may cruise the well-known LEMAIRE Channel.

January 14, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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After an early breakfast (7 AM) we boarded our Zodiacs and set off on the Lemaire Channel. Tim (the Kayak Master) was serving as an advance scout in his Kayak to gauge the water depth. A Zodiac with an outboard Motor such as ours will require at least 1 metre of water depth to operate. In addition to shallow waters, the Channel could also freeze up and prevent our passage.

All expedition crew members including the doctor are equipped with 2-way radios. They carry these with them at all times. Tim was sending us quite positive reports and our Zodiacs cruised slowly among the Icebergs. It had snowed the previous night and fresh snow could be seen everywhere. We had to be extra careful on the ship´s deck this morning as it was quite slippery. As a result I decided not to carry my whole camera bag and kit and went out instead with a single lens (24-70 / 2.8).

We cruised for about an hour. The wind had picked up slightly and the tips of my toes (despite wearing 2 layers of thick socks) and fingers were numb. We could see the bottom of the Channel in many places (4 feet depth). So if we toppled, we would not drown! (but we may freeze to death!) We made a landing on an unnamed beach and took our group picture of our first landing on the Antarctic Continent! YES ! The landing area was slush with Penguin droppings and was not a pleasant place to walk around. The only bad aspect of visiting Penguin colonies :) The Penguins and Seals feed on Krill (as do the Whales of course) and their waste has a reddish tinge to it. Seals can eat Penguins and ORCAS can eat Seals though we have not observed either behaviour thus far!

An offer was made by the expedition staff to return to the ship or continue Zodiac cruising. About 20 of us chose to return to the ship. I had done my Continental Landing and we were not expected to encounter any new wildlife so there seemed little point to continue to freeze myself on further Zodiac cruising!

Post Lunch, I had a short siesta. We set our on a Zodiac Cruise shortly thereafter around PLENEAU Island. We cruised around the icebergs of Pleneau Island and it was nice. We did not make any landings. We passed numerous large Icebergs. We spotted CRABEATER and LEOPARD seals as well as the odd GENTOO Penguin. A curious LEOPARD Seal played around our ZODIAC for over 20 minutes thereby becoming the MOST Photographed LEOPARD Seal ever! Our Zodiac was driven by Martin (the expedition leader) and we were quite impressed by his navigational skills.

We returned to the ship around 6 PM. It had been a good day. We had set foot (finally) on the Antarctic Continent and Photographed LEOPARD Seals up close. Our plan was to move back to the DRAKE Passage and sail on the outside (unprotected from wind and sea swells) until we reached the Antarctic Circle. Most of us forked out at least a few thousand dollars extra for the privilege of "Crossing the Circle".

After dinner I noticed that the boat had started rolling heavily as we had moved into the drake passage. I spoke to the Ship doctor (Raymond) and he recommended that I take Phenergan again. I took one and went to bed a little after 9 PM. This is indeed an excellent pill to fight sea sickness. I woke up around 1:30 AM and observed (through the porthole in our Cabin) that the light was still quite bright. The sun sets (or rather disappears) for an hour or so in these parts - say from 2:30 till 4 AM or so. There is no darkness as such at any time in the summer.