Boat Day 8Nov 13, 2010
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Chinstrap Penguins
Chinstrap Penguin
Murray, Penny & Chinstrap Penguins
| we woke up at Half Moon Island and went to shore at 9am. it was sunny at +4 outside. we wandered through a Chinstrap Penguin Colony and happened upon a Macaroni Penguin - who has cool yellow eyebrows. also on the island across the bay was an Argentinian Base. On shore we saw 2 weddell seals and a giant Elephant Seal. It was so warm and awesome - great place to spend the morning. we got back to the ship and set sail for Penguin Island - when we arrived 5 hours later, the seas were too stormy to do a shore landing, so we headed for the Polish Arctowski Station on King George Island. When we arrived, the ship lowered the zodiac master Scobie and Leader John in a zodiac to the water to scout a good location for a shore landing. they were unable to release the zodiac from the crane cable & a large gust of wind picked up the zodiac and flipped over. Scobie and John were in the water and rapidly floating away from the ship, their life jackets inflated and they hooked arms to stay together. Other zodiacs were lowered to the water & both Scobie and John were pulled from the frigid waters within 5 minutes. by the time they arrived back to the ship, they were wet for 15 minutes. they immediately went from the mud room into the sauna. they were both walking about the ship within an hour - a lot shaken and a little warmer. that incident put a somber mood over the ship. everyone was relieved that all were safe. we had dinner early and then did a shore landing at 8:30pm. we arrived and went to look at the penguin colony, along the waleopardleoppard seal and around the bay were 3 elephant seals. we stood and watched them for a while. by the time we made it up to the rookery, the permission to land on shore was revoked by the Polish and we had to evacuate the island immediately. so we did not make it to the rookery. along the shore were a lot of old whale bones. there was a skull of a whale that was so big - bigger than me. by the time we got to the landing site to board the zodiac, the winds had started gusting - as we headed back to the ship, we were soaked by 4 huge waves and it was immediatelysaunae sauana. rumors around the ship have it that the crew sent ashore fresh veggies, fruit and alcohol for the Polish Station, who accepted it and then told us to buzz off. all in a days fun for the 13th of november. we are now making our way up to Elephant Island over the night - we are going to be in the open seas - so will be a rough 8 hours. |
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