December 29th:
I decided to get up early the next morning and grab a table in the Lido. Yesterday was really busy in the morning and I was worried we wouldn't be able to get a table with a good view.
I decided to get up early the next morning and grab a table in the Lido. Yesterday was really busy in the morning and I was worried we wouldn't be able to get a table with a good view.
Turns out I was the only person who got up early! Oh well! My tenacity paid off because I was able to see a penguin party on a passing iceberg. I wasn't able to get a good picture, but it was funny to see so many penguins taking the iceberg for a ride!
[Green Line]
The plan for the day was to visit Charlotte Bay and Cuverville Island, BUT there was a lot of ice reported in Charlotte Bay. Instead we headed through the Gerlache Strait to Wilhelmina Bay.
[Half-pipe iceberg]
[We passed this iceberg slowly, but the penguins still got spooked and they all jumped off the iceberg into the water.]
[Lone, young-adult Adelie penguin]
[Gentoo penguin in the water]
[See that black log-looking-thing laying on the iceberg? It's a crab eater seal.]
[More penguins]
The Bay was full of small icebergs and it was so much fun to scan them all and find seals and penguins.
While we were looking for seals we saw a whale breach!
[Two crab eater seals]
[Two young humpback whales playing around the ice.]
[The water was like glass]
After cruising around Wilhelmina Bay, I went and took a short nap.
I woke up because the Zaandam's thrusters were working hard and I knew it had to be because there was something worth seeing out on deck!
I hurried to the back of the ship where I saw one of the largest Gentoo colony on the Antarctic Peninsula (about 6500 pairs)! We had arrived early at Cuverville Island!
While we were checking out the colony, this humpback whale kept rubbing on the ship. He would be on the port side, dive under the ship, use the ship to scratch his back, and then show up on the other side. It was funny to see people running back and fort across the ship to get a good picture!
[Waving!]
After taking pictures of the humpback whale, an iceberg with a lone Chinstrap penguin floated by!
[I think he knew he was being photographed!]
[Cruise ship]
After we left Cuverville Island and the Gentoo Colony, we all headed to the Crows Nest to ask the Expedition Team some questions.
I talked to Tamara for a few minutes then headed back to our spot. As I was gazing out of the window I saw a sharp, tall, black fin pop out of the water! A KILLER WHALE!
I ran over to where Tamara was, apologized for interrupting her conversation, and told her I had just spotted a Killer Whale. She said, "SHOW ME!" and we ran to the window together. She saw them and was happy to confirm that this was the first Killer Whale sighting on our cruise!
As we continued through the Gerlache Strait we saw more Killer Whales!
These ones decided to ride the Zaandam's wake for a few minutes before heading off to hunt.
Josh was, yet again, in the perfect spot to capture these pictures! I even had a guy come up to me at dinner and tell me how jealous he was of Josh's pictures!
That night we went to the MainStage where the Zaandam Band played music to the Frozen Planet show. I've seen all of the Frozen Planet shows before, but listening to the music live was a whole other experience!