December 24 and December 25
This will be a Christmas I will never forget.
As I peered out the porthole of my stateroom at dawn on December 24, Christmas Eve morning, the song "White Christmas" popped into my head. Towering mountains of pristine snow, icy glaciers dropping down into an emerald sea, jagged blue-tinted ice floes bobbing on the ocean surface appeared in circle of my porthole.
It was Christmas Eve day, and the experiences I had over next two days would remain indelibly imprinted in my memory. This is undoubtedly the most extraordinary Christmas environment I could have ever imagined.
On December 24 an announcement came over the speakers announcing the day's plan. We would board zodiac boats in small groups and land at the black rocky beaches we could see about two miles away. This landing spot was the home of a big penguin rookery --- the nesting spot of adelie, magellanic, and chin strap penguins-and we would see up close and very personal, 14,000 penguins that day.
We had arrived in the South Shetland Islands overnight. Southeast of Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America, the islands are off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Finally, we had our southern destination: the Antarctic Peninsula and two of the South Shetland Islands, King George and Deception Island. Both islands had penguins nesting in the thousands.
The Shetland Islands are mountainous, snow-and ice covered, and uninhabited except for a number of scientific research stations manned by many nations, including the U.S. Antarctica is the fifth largest continent-larger than the U.S. and is 99.6% covered with perpetual ice. The valleys are extremely dry-in some places there's been no precipitation for two million years, and the ice in Antarctica can be almost three miles deep! The lowest temperature ever recorded there was -132 degrees, and winds up to 200 mph have been recorded. In other words, we didn't go there expecting easy landings.
Ownership of the islands remains disputed. In 1962 the archipelago was made a part of the British Antarctic Territory, but Chile and Argentina dispute this claim.
However, we Ocean Explorer troops are not as interested in political rivalries as in the wildlife to be. Our mission to Antarctic waters had one goal: to see the spectacular wildlife, including the penguins, whales and seals. We were not disappointed.
We were forewarned that the weather is very unpredictable and that we might very encounter a sudden storm, with high winds whipping the sea. If so, any zodiac landing would be called off as it had the afternoon before.
But the Gods were with us.
I sat in my long johns, jeans, waterproof pants, three layers of socks, and polartec jacket keeping me warm under my REI rainproof jacket that has numerous pockets to hold the little I needed for an "expedition" landing-gloves, hat, binoculars, and camera. I was wearing the ship's boots meant for landing in water.
At 10:30 a.m. the sea was choppy but bearable. We boarded one of eight zodiacs, 14 to a boat on an all day schedule allowing only 100 at a time to land at King George Island in a cove where a Polish Research Station is located. The reason we were landing there was that this is a spot where 14,000 penguins live.
We landed. And what a spectacular sight it was. Adelie and chinstrap penguins were everywhere, and elephant seals were sleeping nearby. The penguins are not the least afraid of people. They hopped along the black rocky beach headed toward water from the hillsides above. Ever curious, they stopped to stare at us almost as we did them. We were warned to step carefully and never interfere with the path of the penguins to the sea.
I never knew what delightful creatures these little guys in their fancy tuxedo suits are. They waddle along and hop sure-footedly from rock heading toward the sea. They are so unafraid, curious and amusing that it's like watching a Charlie Chaplin imitation of penguins. And there were 14,000 of them in this rookery, gathered close together on the hillside above the beach, waddling alone or in small groups over the black sand, jumping into the waves and emerging every so often for a breath of air. I'll never see a penguin again without smiling at their antics and being amazed at their sweet personalities.
Christmas Day with the Penguins
Returning from our penguin watch yesterday, we were treated to another amazing sight-four southern right whales in a pod came close by the ship and we watched as they spouted a number of times.
I thought we had experienced the highlight of our Antarctic\expedition yesterday, but Christmas Day's adventure proved me wrong. Again, we were organized in groups of 12 or 14 to a boat, and the sea water aquamarine beautiful, with sun caused shimmering waves to turn to silver. The sea was tranquil this morning and getting into the zodiac was not as frightening for most people. The zodiac crew is skillful at holding your arms, using the seaman's grip. Lowering you into the boat and saying, "sit" with authority;. New do as they tell us. And head out toward Deception Island to a quiescent volcano that last erupted in 199l. It was an awesome sight, with one part of the volcano having blown off allowing some access into the caldera at times. But our interest went to the 50,000 pairs of nesting penguins covering the hillsides and lining the beaches, and swimming in the sea around us everywhere! What a once-in-a-lifetime (for me) experience.
It was remarkable, with the sun and sea and white icy glacial mountains surrounding us as we made our way to Deception Island. I'll always remember this Christmas as the most unusual I have ever had.
