Penguins, Orcas and Whales Oh My! (22Feb2022)

 On the morning of the 22nd, we woke to more gorgeous scenery.

I was having a blast photographing the porpoising Gentoo penguins.

I didn't even notice at the time that I had a Chinstrap Penguin mixed in with the Gentoos.  See upper right bird.

The ship slowed to watch this pod of Orcas.

These Orcas were covered in diatoms or algae that gave them a dirty look.  Apparently these skin layers form in the rich waters of the poles but shed in the warmer waters. Baleen whales typically give birth in tropical waters probably to get away from Orcas that predate on young whales.  However, scientists were flummoxed as to why Orcas would migrate away from the rich waters of the poles.  Some think it is so they can shed their diatom coats in favor of a nice shiny new skin layer.

A couple of the Orcas moved over to an iceberg and seemed to be using them as a scratching post.

Apparently these cruises have certain boxes they want to check on every trip.  Everyone wants to see a penguin colony, step foot on the continent of Antarctica, check out a seal colony and take a polar plunge.  One of the things they always try to do when possible is find some pack ice and let people walk around on it so they can feel like true explorers, just like Shackleton.

This section of pack ice at the foot of the mountains seemed promising so we nudged up to it and they sent out a recon party to check it out.

It was good to get a zodiac in the foreground so you can get an idea of scale.  Everything in Antarctica is BIG!

Apparently the ice was satisfactory and they shuttled us all over by groups again.

I got the lucky job of mooring the boat.

Antarctic Tern!

Another scale shot, that tiny spec in the distance is a zodiac.

I don't usually take panoramic photos, but this huge landscape called for it.

Humpback Whale - After we pushed out to sea, I was up in the bow again looking for birds and other animals.

Humpback blow-hole.

Five Gray-headed Albatross and one Black-browed.

Southern Giant Petrel

Immature Gray-headed Albatross

In the afternoon we motored through a channel with the swell coming from behind us which allowed me to get right up in the bow.  Many times the bow was hard to handle because of wind or swell.  I was having an amazing time listening to some music on my headphones and just soaking in the beauty.

We started to see Chinstrap Penguins.

Some of the icebergs had really interesting shapes that could have been used for Rorschach testing.  I am getting a Triceratops vibe from this one.

The scale of some of the mountains jutting from the southern ocean was just mind-boggling.  I would wager that this was a couple thousand feet.

There are no plants in Antarctica except some lichens or mosses.  However, there are some weird algae that grow on snow.  Here are some red and green algae growing on ice near shore.

I am still trying to take it all in a month later.  

Another installment coming soon.