The Gullett, Marguerite Bay, and Pourquoi Pas Island
Today on the National Geographic Explorer was a day one would hardly call normal.
This is for several reasons.
Today we crossed the Antarctic Circle. Due to ice conditions, few ships have come so far south this Antarctic season and this morning the National Geographic Explorer crossed that imaginary line.
To make the day even more exciting, this morning we saw a Ross Seal. A ROSS SEAL! The holy grail of peninsula touring. Zodiac cruises and kayaking south of the circle is exciting enough, but add a very rare animal that most staff having travelled here for years have never seen, and you have an exciting event. The call went out over the radio: “Veteran naturalist Pete Puleston had found a Ross Seal on an ice floe.” Zodiacs zoomed in from all around the bay. There resting on a small ice floe was a seal that looked very different from the abundant crabeater and weddell seals we had seen. Small in size, long streaks of color at the throat, and a small mouth. We stayed to watch for a long time, as this was a rare and special event. It must be the most photographed Ross seal in the world.
The unique day did not end there. On our way deeper into the Antarctic a pod of killer whales was spotted. The bow of the ship sank a few inches deeper as all on board crowed there to get a better look. For a time they stayed distant, then the group turned and headed straight for the ship. Soon we had an aerial view as the killer whales swam back and forth directly under the bow. Ooohs and Ahhhs filled the air. To add to our exciting afternoon Stephanie Martin, Bob Pitman, and John Durban set out in a Zodiac to, hopefully, sample, satellite tag, and photograph the whales. We cheered them on as they worked to stay close to the group and get the angle for shooting the sampling arrow and satellite transmitter. It took some time, many passes, several swift course changes, and some surprise as the whales popped up directly behind them, but eventually Bob and John, with Stephanie expertly manoeuvring the Zodiac, were able to get several shots fired from their crossbows. Two biopsy samples were successfully retrieved and the satellite tag was successfully planted onto the dorsal fin of the biggest male killer whale anyone has ever seen and a second female. It will be very interesting to see the instant online results of the locations of these large whales over the next few days.
The ship continued its way south, cruising through the breathtaking scenery, to Pourquoi Pas Island where after dinner there was an offer to go ashore in this wonderful, beautiful scenery. Here, at Pourquoi Pas our most southern point of the trip, was a small colony of Adelie penguins, some of the southernmost penguins. A walk on the beach in warm sunshine amidst penguins busy in their own lives was a peaceful, tranquil, stunning way to end the most amazing, unique, and wonderful of days.
