The opportunity to round the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and venture south and into the Weddell Sea is certainly not one that arises on many expeditions. Weather and ice often hamper such plans, and yet having spent the past few days dodging strong winds, the weather is now working in our favour.
Out on deck we noticed a few changes as we made our way south along the eastern coast of the peninsula: the air was perceivably colder and the icebergs considerably larger. The keen wildlife watchers amongst us were out on deck wrapped up against the Antarctic elements and by mid-morning we were treated to one of the best wildlife encounters we’ve experienced so far on this expedition. A pod of Type B Killer whales had been spotted. For an hour we observed well over a dozen whales, including males, females and juveniles.
When a Minke whale and then a humpback whale joined the mix the naturalists’ minds began ticking – was this predatory behaviour on the part of the killer whales, or were all these mammals feeding on a similar rich prey source? Perhaps the latter on account of the lack of flee response from both the Minke and humpback. But the beauty of such an encounter is that we cannot be sure. More and more is being discovered about these animals every year and to witness such a sight in a place as unique as the Weddell Sea was certainly a memory we will take home.
Leaving the whales and continuing south toward Paulet Island, the Captain was pleased to find less ice blocking our route than had been anticipated. This meant that we were able to head ashore just after lunch. Having spent the past few days enjoying the funny antics of the gentoo and chinstrap penguins, it was now time to enjoy the characters that are the adelie penguins at Paulet Island. You most definitely cannot mistake the smell that radiates from of hundreds of adelie penguins, but as we picked our way carefully alongside the penguins it was their endearing faces and behaviour that had our attention.
Back on board National Geographic Orion we had time to re-warm our frosty fingers and toes and settle down for an evening sailing through the ice – further south into the Weddell Sea.
