Sea Ice, Ice Floes, More Ice 

Blocked by sea ice

We have just turned around for the second time in 12 hours because of dense sea ice that blocked our way.  Last night, we spent about 8 hours reversing our course to head back to Elephant Island, around it’s long north side, and south again in the open ocean.  

Crabeater Seal



This morning, about 3 a.m., the ship shook as it scraped a sizeable iceberg.  The sun was already up, so I peered out our windows to see an ocean of ice.  We continued moving forward until about 4:30 a.m., when I went up on deck to take pictures of this remarkable (for me) and beautiful sight.  Soon after, we turned around again and are now headed NW around King George Island in the South Shetland Islands, back to the open sea.  We had planned a hike on Pigeon Island this morning, but now hope to do that late this afternoon.  Alternatively, we’ll do a short hike on Deception Island, a horseshoe-shaped island that is the crater of a still active volcano. 

 



Huge iceberg

I thought you might enjoy some of my photos of the sea ice and several of the huge icebergs we are passing.  The seal on one floe is a crabeater seal, the most plentiful seal in these waters.  The penguins are Adelie Penguins.

  

Adelie Penguins on ice floe

King George Island, South Shetland Islands



Elephant Island, Whales and Two Days at Sea 

Tiny spit where Shackleton's crew spent 4 1/2 months

After 2 days at sea, we reached Elephant Island, where Ernest Shackleton left 21 of his crew under the command of Frank Wild while he and 5 others made their terrifying journey to South Georgia Island, 800 miles away in a tiny, leaky lifeboat, through storms and huge waves, in 15 days.  They were only able to get their navigational bearings twice during that awful trip and yet managed to land on this tiny speck of land in the huge Southern Ocean.  

Iceberg near Shackleton's landing site

They landed on the opposite side of rugged South Georgia from the whaling stations, so Shackleton and 2 of his crew had to hike across mountains covered in snow, ice and glaciers to Stromness Bay, where they could get help.  They managed this difficult feat in 36 hours (an experienced trio of mountain climbers, well fed and equipped, took nearly 4 days to repeat the crossing several years ago).  When the 3 men came down the valley into the station, they were taken to the manager, who demanded to know who these filthy, frostbitten, haggard men were.  “My name is Shackleton,” Shackleton replied.  The manager turned aside and cried.  They had been lost in the pack ice for 17 months and were thought to be lost at sea.  

After rescuing the 3 men left at their landing site, Shackleton began the incredibly difficult task of saving his men on Elephant Island.  It took him 3 attempts to get back to Elephant Island, but he finally rescued his crew after 135 days in this incredibly desolate spot.  In looking at Elephant Island, it would seem that there had to be a better place to land his men, but everywhere we’ve looked, the rocky cliffs and glaciers come down to the sea, with no beaches at all. 

Glacier on Elephant Island

We went out in our Zodiacs this morning to tour the area.  The surf was too high for a landing at Shackleton’s campsite, so we circled the bay, admiring the large icebergs residing here, the glaciers and formidable cliffs surrounding the bay, and, of course, the tiny spot where Shackleton’s crew survived miraculously for 4 ½ months. 

The beach where the crew spent the winter is only a few feet above sea level, a jumble of rocks against the mountains and glaciers.  It is remarkable that they weren’t washed away by a winter storm surge because there is literally no place to go to save yourself here.  The rock beach looks about 50 feet  wide and perhaps 150 feet long, with waves crashing just below the campsite.  We did not see any seals today, but know the men lived on seals and penguins.  Not an easy catch in this frozen, slippery piece of rock.  The area is now called Point Wild and has a lonely marker to honor the captain of the completely inadequate tugboat that rescued the men against enormous odds.  When he saw the camp from the tugboat, Shackleton counted all the men who were waving frantically and happily at him and said, “They are all there.” 

Chinstrap Penguin--Elephant Island

Chinstrap Penguins nest on Elephant Island.  They are remarkable themselves, hopping up the steep, jagged and very slippery rocks to their nests.  We watched several of them as they tried to get into the water.  Those who dared slipped on the ice and bounced on the rocks before landing in the ocean.  The penguins look like black and white porpoises as they swim in and out swiftly either feeding or returning to their nests to feed their chicks.  We have admired their skill as they leap gracefully out of the water on their journeys.  They are incredibly fast. 

Yesterday we were at sea all day.  We spent several hours watching orcas and fin whales.  They are such huge animals and so incredibly graceful in the water for all their bulk.  One pod of orcas was chasing a fur seal, who soon disappeared, so we assume the unfortunate creature became a whale meal.

Sea ice forced us to reverse course

Now we are headed to the South Shetland Islands (Elephant Island is the northernmost of these islands) and then on to the Antarctic Peninsula.  We have been traveling through fairly heavy ice floes, so have had to divert our course to get around so much ice.  A short while ago, we felt the ship shudder and scrape as it hit an iceberg, so the captain wants to minimize that opportunity.   It’s so beautiful, but while the Silver Explorer is “ice hardened”, it is not an ice breaker and requires open water.  Later,after I wrote this, we actually reversed course and went back to Elephant Island (about a 5 hour detour) and around the island to the far side.  Now we’re continuing south in hopes of finding clear water. 

Every day, we have several lectures from the expedition staff who are all Antarctic researchers.  They are so knowledgeable about everything from birds to glaciers to geology to krill (the tiny shrimp that are the base layer in the food chain here, feeding birds, penguins, whales, seals—and us and our pets).   One woman studies the krill, which are quite fascinating little creatures.  One season here, she spent 2 months mostly in the water under the ice studying them and their predators.  Another crew member spent 2 years working on South Georgia Island, so knows the area well.  All the naturalists have spent years in the Antarctic, so we are lucky to benefit from their extensive experience and knowledge.

 

 

Death and Birth on South Georgia Island

elephant seal at sea

Yesterday was another beautiful, sunny day here, but so windy that we had to delay our landing a while.  Nonetheless, we did get to go ashore in a small cove covered with King Penguins and both fur and elephant seals.  The animal population was so dense that we could only walk along the shore, generally in the low surf, in order not to disturb the animals.  Fortunately, we have high-topped rubber boots, perfect for landing and walking in the surf.

 

Male fur seals preparing to fight

The male fur seals are quite aggressive and snarl and growl at one another and at us as they try to protect their small patches of territory.  All the males fight constantly, leaving large gashes on one another.  Their sleek hides are covered with scars.  The male elephant seals are also territorial and quite aggressive, but don’t bother too much about people.  Still, Don got closer than one huge male liked yesterday and he got a solid butt in his butt.  Fortunately didn’t fall down, because that would have been really dangerous.  These huge animals have formidable teeth and jaws.

There are lots of baby seals scattered about, large black blobs with huge eyes.  Within a short time, their mothers wean them and leave them pretty much to their own devices.  By that time, though, they are quite big and can swim well.  It’s a fascinating sight to watch these large, blubbery animals heave themselves with surprising speed out of the water and onto rocks or beaches.  Some even go a mile or more inland, if there is enough relatively flat land, to find a little peace from the constant agitation onshore.

baby fur seal nursing

sucessful Skua with dead penguin

In the afternoon, we took Zodiac tours into a small cove where Macaroni Penguins nest and molt.  Like every other beach on the island, there were hundreds of seals.  We watched one female who was surrounded by skua—big, sea vultures—watching her intently.  Because they are scavengers, we figured they were watching her give birth so they could get the placenta.  Sure enough, we watched as a small black creature dropped onto the sand next to the female.  She fought off the skua briefly before a huge male seal came over to help.  He made one lurch at the birds and decided enough had been done, so fell asleep on the sand.  The baby lay there next to its mother, resting, big eyes peering around.

Just before, we had observed a large group of skua about 50 yards from shore fighting over something.  It turned out to be a dead penguin.  An earlier group had seen an injured penguin surrounded by birds pecking at it.  We assume the dead and devoured penguin was the same one.  A sad fate for the bird, but a meal for the skua chicks up in the cliffs above the beach.

 

We have seen 5 kinds of penguins—rockhopper, king, Gentoo, Magellanic and macaroni.  The rockhoppers and macaronis are tufted penguins, with spiky topknots.  The king and Gentoo penguins have smooth heads and are larger than the first 2.  All carry themselves with great dignity and seem to enjoy posing for endless photos.  We will probably not see the emperor penguins, stars of the movie, “The March of the Penguins” because they will be 100 miles from the Antarctic shore nesting.

king penguins with seals

Macaroni penguins

Researchers have put GPS devices on some female seals to see where they go.  In one of our daily  lectures, we looked at a map of one seal’s annual hunting trip.  She started at South Georgia and went hundreds of miles out to sea before doubling back and going in large circles for months.  Finally, she returned to South Georgia to have her pup.  Since seals molt, she shed her tracking device with her old skin and the researchers were able to recover it to study the data thoroughly.  What remarkable technology we have.  Throughout her journey, whenever she came to the surface of the water, the GPS device radioed information about her to a satellite and then to the research station.  It also recorded the depths of her dives, which were several hundred feet.   Elephant seals are the deepest divers, going as deep as 5000 feet.

Rockhopper penguin

Gentoo penguin

We left South Georgia last night, after the captain maneuvered the ship into a tiny and magnificent cove to let us see the glaciers grinding away towards the sea.  Now we’re at sea for 2 days and I am eternally glad for my anti-sea sickness patches.  It’s quite rough and will continue that way until we get to the Antarctic Peninsula, where I hope we’ll be a bit more sheltered.

Magellanic penguin in burrow nest

I will try to upload a page of photos to this blog is I can get enough bandwidth to do that.  Otherwise, I’ll do that when we get home.

 

 

Touring South Georgia Island

South Georgia Island

 

South Georgia Island is as beautiful a place as you can find on earth.  Magnificent snow and glacier-covered mountains coming down to the deep blue Southern Ocean, and steep, grassy  valleys cut by the glaciers.  Today was clear so we had sun, bright blue sky, and lots of wind.

South Georgia glacier

Yesterday, we visited Stromness Bay in the afternoon to see its enormous collection of birds and seals.  This morning we took a Zodiac tour along the 2 mile front of a glacier that is rapidly receding (nearly 1000 feet per year), so calving constantly.  After one particularly large calving this morning, our Zodiac driver turned the boat and headed full speed out of the cove, followed by an even faster mini-tsunami wall of water displaced by the falling ice.  It finally dissipated and back we went to continue our inspection. 

There are hundreds of birds circling around the front side of the glacier.  The area where fresh water from the glacier meets cold salty sea water is rich in fish and shellfish, so excellent feeding grounds for many species of birds and seals. South Georgia has thousands of fur and elephant seals and hundreds of thousands of birds.  But, it also has rats that were introduced a century ago by visiting ships, and they eat birds’ eggs.  The small research group that lives on the Island estimates that there would be 100 million birds nesting here if it weren’t for the rats.  They have embarked on a major rat eradication program that is very difficult and very expensive, but also very successful in their test area.  It would be incredible to come back here in a decade and see if the bird population has, indeed, grown that much, assuming the rats are completely eradicated.

King Penguin breeding colony with chicks

The King Penguins are thick here and most are molting, which is quite a fascinating process.  The penguins stay in one place, mostly standing, for the 4 or 5 weeks it takes to molt.  Consequently, they lose about 1/3 of their body weight and must return immediately to the ocean for food when their molting is finished.  Often, they go hundreds of miles out to sea to feed.  When they molt, they don’t just shed feathers.  The new feathers push out the old feathers, so they look shaggy over parts of their bodies while other parts, which haven’t started molting yet, look sleek and normal.

At the same time, there are breeding pairs hatching eggs and feeding chicks, so the parent sitting on the egg eats nothing for 2 or 3 weeks while the other parent goes out to sea to feed.   Then they exchange places until the chick is old enough to be left alone, covered in soft brown feathers.  These chicks form themselves into groups for protection as they are too young to take care of themselves or to swim long distances.  When the parents return from the ocean, they often have trouble finding their chick, but the chick can find them because the baby is hungry and smells its parents and runs after them squawking until it gets fed.

Male elephant seal resting

 This afternoon, we spent 4 hours at Grytviken, an old Norwegian whaling station (there were 7 or 8 on South Georgia before whaling was banned by the British in 1965).  This is where Ernest Shackleton is buried, with his head facing south, as he wished, in a small cemetery above the water and below the towering cliffs of the mountains and glaciers.  Shackleton died of a heart attack while en route to South Georgia to launch yet another attempt to cross Antarctica.

White fur seal protecting his territory

In its heyday, Grytviken had 400 workers and could process 25 whales a day, using every part of the whale’s body.  It must have been a slimy, gruesome place, but very lucrative for the whalers.  They killed 175,000 whales here over about 50 years.  Then, one season, when they returned, there were no whales at all.  They had killed so many that the population collapsed.  The Japanese whalers took over the station for a couple of years, but gave it up because it was so unproductive.  The town now is home to 30 fishery administrators, researchers, and rat eradicators, some of whom have lived here for 20 years, taking 3 or 4 months of vacation during the darkest days of winter.  It’s a life they love, but obviously completely isolated, the only way out being boat or, occasionally, a helicopter.  The nearest land is the Falkland Islands, nearly 800 miles away.  Nonetheless, they have about 5000 visitors a year from tourist, fishing, and British Navy ships stopping here and seem very pleased to show their visitors around.

 

 

 

 

Wild Day at South Georgia Island 

Silversea Explorer anchored at South Georgia Island

 

First—Happy Thanksgiving.  We had a turkey dinner on board tonight with a couple of other Americans plus a man from New Zealand and one from Ireland.  Very enjoyable, but I miss cooking Thanksgiving dinner for family and friends. 

Sometime early yesterday morning, we crossed the “Antarctic Convergence”, the area of the ocean that marks the end of the South Atlantic and the beginning of the Southern Ocean.  The crew takes the water temperature every fifteen minutes and knows when we make that crossing because the water  temperature drops about 10 degrees.  The weather also changes dramatically, so we went from sun and light winds to fog and heavy winds, with lots of big swells.  I continue to be grateful for my seasickness patches.  Don is now surviving on Dramamine quite happily. 

Thousands of penguins on Salisbury Plain, South Georgia
Island

When we rounded the east end of South Georgia Island early this morning, it was still relatively calm with winds of 20 knots, and foggy.  Our crew decided to attempt landings on a beach called the Salisbury Plain, literally covered with king penguins and both fur and elephant seals.  Today, there were somewhere around 150,000 penguins and thousands of seals on the beach and up into the rock falls of the mountains.  An amazing sight. 

 

The surf was OK when the first groups landed (you can only have 100 people at any one time on South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula, so we, being 120 people on board, went in 2 groups).  By the time the first group returned to the ship, the sea was getting pretty heavy and everyone was soaked as they got out through the surf and hit large waves on their way back to the ship on the Zodiacs. 

When our turn came to leave the ship in the Zodiacs, the conditions were marginal, which meant that big swells battered the ship and we had to jump onto the Zodiacs between swells.  The crew is incredible in their handling of these very stable boats in high waves.  We landed on the beach, with some of the crew snagging our Zodiacs and dragging us through the surf, about 4 feet high at that point.  The crew members were in wet suits and soaked and cold since the temperature was about freezing with, by then, a 35 knot wind (the maximum for operations on shore). 

Penguin injured by seal

We wandered through the huge crowds of penguins and seals, seeing thousands of incubating pairs, a number of newborn baby seals, and some badly injured penguins who had narrowly escaped a foraging seal that had snatched a chunk of their blubber.  After about 45 minutes, it was clear that we couldn’t return to the ship the way we had come, so we gathered all the survival gear that always comes ashore and headed off over the beach and tussock grass to a calmer landing site, about 1 ½ miles away in a small cove.  We loved the walk, but the male seals were very unimpressed with us and growled, howled and charged us to get us out of their territory.

Meanwhile, the ship moved from its anchorage to the bay we were headed to, where we would have a better chance of boarding the Zodiacs and the ship.  Finally, we accomplished both, thoroughly soaked, but so happy to have had the opportunity to wander among these gorgeous animals.

As soon as we headed out to sea to move to our next destination, the swells rose to about 27 feet, according to the crew, who measure them constantly.  That meant that the ship was pitching and rolling to a remarkable degree.  We were eating lunch while the plates, glasses, liquids and food slid from one of the table to the other and often onto the floor.  The waiters wrapped saran around their serving stations to keep all the plates, glasses and utensils from flying onto the floor.  Back in our cabin, there were waves crashing on our windows, and we’re on the 4^th deck.  Quite exciting.

By late afternoon, we had moved to a protected bay where one of South Georgia’s old whaling stations had been located.  The buildings are still there, though in ruined state.  This is where Ernest Shackleton and his companions arrived after a horrific crossing of the mountains in blizzard conditions, not knowing where they were or being able to see where they were going.  At one point, Shackleton heard the whistle announcing lunch for the workers and headed in that direction, down a precipitous waterfall and ice face into a flat valley and on to the whaling station, from which he rescued his crew whom he’d  left on Elephant Island.

Gail and Don at Shackleton's grave, South
Georgia Island

We landed via Zodiacs near the decrepit whaling station, off limits to visitors because of its hazardous condition and loose asbestos.  There were thousands of seals on the beach and even one about a mile up the valley who must have wanted to be left alone.  Penguins were nesting along the length of our route, often a couple of miles from the ocean where they go for all their food.  We hiked up to Shackleton’s Falls, a long waterfall that Shackleton and his companions slid down (on the ice) in order to reach the valley below.  The most recent crossing of these mountains and glaciers took 4 days—Shackleton did it in 36 hours with no provisions, in a starved state, and with wet, heavy clothing.  Remarkable.

Tonight we ventured into the heavy seas again, but are now anchored in a deep, narrow bay, where there used to be a whaling station.  It’s now an Antarctic research station.  We will visit it tomorrow, hopefully, weather permitting, to visit Shackleton’s grave and a monument his crew built in his honor.  Shackleton died here of a heart attack on one of his later trips to try to reach the South Pole.

South Georgia Island is magnificent with a 10,000 foot high ridge of mountains running its length.  These are covered with snow and glaciers, so a beautiful sight.  In most places, they run right into the deep ocean waters.  The only inhabitants now are researchers and fishery scientists who monitor the health of the fisheries that surround this area in abundance.

Old whaling town of Grytvigen, where Shackleton is buried
and the only occupied settlement on the island

 

Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands

Yesterday, we spent much of the day on East Falkland Island, visiting the penguin rookeries on a beach about 30 miles outside of Stanley and wandering the streets of this small town that is the only town in the Islands.

Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands

To get to the rookery, we landed on shore via the Zodiacs, then took a van towards the airport, which was built to a high scale by the British in 1982, right after the war with Argentina over who possessed the Falklands.  Prior to that war, the British had to use aircraft carriers if they wanted to defend the islands.  But, when they cut the carriers from their naval fleet, Argentina thought the time to strike was right—to their folly.  The British decided to upgrade all the infrastructure of the islands after that mini-war, so built good asphalt and graveled roads around East Falkland Island as well as the airport and a better port.

The rookery we visited, however, is not on a road, but across the sheep pastures via a 4 wheel drive vehicle which are a key part of any farmer’s life and status here.  Unfortunately, there are many minefields left from the 1982 war, now all fenced and marked, but still taking up a good deal of grazing land.  Crop farming is not an economic activity since the islands are covered with rock falls and peat moss.  The farmers and town dwellers both grow their own vegetables because they are so far from any source of fresh fruits and vegetables.  

King Penguins, East Falkland Island

At the rookery, we saw Gentoo and King penguins and one Gentoo penguin that was brown instead of black.  The brown color results from a genetic defect that severely limits the amount of melanin that goes to the bird’s feathers.  About 1 in 20,000 Gentoo penguins has this defect, so they’re not too common.  These birds are not ostracized in any way because of their differences from the rest of the flock.

Yearling King penguin ready to molt

 The baby king penguins are covered with soft, thick brown feathers for their first year.  Even when their parents go off to sea again, leaving them behind, they stay in their birthplace until they go through molting, turning from brown to black and white.  This is a very stressful time for the yearlings because not only are they alone for the first time, but the process of molting takes a huge amount of energy.  The babies, fat when their parents leave, lose 1/3 of their body weight while molting.

We talked a lot to our drivers and to shopkeepers about their economy and politics.  Every one of them is adamant about remaining British.  There is rampant paranoia about Argentina, particularly since the Falklands may have oil reserves offshore and Argentina covets them.  The more fearful of those we talked to think Argentina has persuaded countries to cut off air service, tourism, and deliveries of critical goods to the islands.  That seems a little overblown, but is a key part of the residents’ mindset.  All their trade relationships are with Chile (and the UK, of course) rather than Argentina.  While there is a 46 bed hospital in Stanley and 4 doctors, anyone with a severe illness is airlifted to Santiago, Chile, rather than to the much closer Argentina.  This is an isolated existence which the Islanders love. 

Zodiac landing, East Falkland Island

The Falklands are a popular destination for cruise ships, and not just those going to Antarctica.  They will have about 85 ships visiting Stanley in 2012, with at least a few of those making several stops, primarily to see the bird colonies.  This is an important revenue source for the Islanders.  And the Islands are a fascinating stop for tourists.

Silver Explorer in Stanley harbor

We’ve been at sea all day today and will not reach South Georgia until 36 hours from now, so lots of time to relax and enjoy the excellent lectures from the expedition staff, who include a geologist, historian, several biologists and naturalists, climatologist, ornithologist, and seal specialists.  All very interesting people who have taught us a lot.  We are hoping our good weather continues so that we can land at all the places we expect to on South Georgia—including the whaling station where Sir Ernest Shackleton stumbled in after his harrowing journey from Elephant Island, and where he is buried.

 

The Falkland Islands

After a day at sea, we reached West Falkland Island yesterday morning and headed out early to see the island and its teeming penguin and albatross rookeries.  All excursions require loading ourselves into zodiac boats, wonderful pontoon boats that are very stable and can go just about anywhere.  Our first landing was on a dock, so “dry” except for the spray from the waves and wind.  Rain pants and rainproof jackets are essential, as are high-topped rubber boots for “wet” landings. 

Settlement on West Falkland Island

Our first hike was across a ridge from one side of the island to the other—about 1 ½ miles and 350 feet (not an impressive hike by Colorado standards, but very pretty).  We arrived at a steep area of rock fall that is the nesting area for thousands of Rockhopper Penguins and Black-browed Albatrosses.  The former are small animals with spiky headdresses, while the albatrosses are huge.  They mix it up all together in this rookery, with lots of snorting, shrieking and howling. 

Caracara landing on West Falkland Island

The Rockhopper Penguins are really remarkable.  They nest high up in the tufted grass, which means that they have to hop down to the water to get food and then hop back up again to get to the nest.  With each hop, they obviously are lifting their full body weight, so it has to be exhausting as their nests are usually 300 to 500 feet above the sea.  One parent sits on the nest for a couple of weeks, eating nothing, while the other parent heads out to sea as far as necessary to find food (sometimes hundreds of miles).   Upon her or his return, the now well-fed parent regurgitates food for the chick, if the chick has hatched, and then takes over parenting duties while the hungry parent goes out to sea for several weeks to feed.  If the egg is left alone for even an instant, it will be devoured by the circling gulls, cormorants and caracaras. 

Rockhopper Penguin pair nesting

Don and I hiked back over one of their mountains, which on West Falkland Island, are about 1000 feet high, seeing lots of birds and sheep.  The Islands aren’t much good for farming, so the primary agricultural activity is raising sheep on these barren and rocky bits of earth sticking up out of the Atlantic.

 

The farmer’s family, living in what the Islanders call a “settlement” (a farmhouse with outbuildings) provided tea and delicious cakes to all 119 of us.  I’m sure it is a good source of cash for them, as they are very isolated and quite self-sufficient, but with little ability to generate cash.  This particular family has a rambling farmhouse, herds of sheep, a windmill and diesel generator for electricity, a spring for their water, which is now piped into the house, and an extensive vegetable garden to feed themselves year-round.  Most Islanders grow vegetables for their families in their backyards and/or greenhouses.  There are no roads, though they do have a couple of Land Rovers to take tourists across the island on rutted tracks.  All travel off the island is by boat.

In the afternoon, we sailed around West Falkland Island to Saunders Island, where we once again landed on shore via Zodiacs.  This time the wind had picked up, so the surf was pretty high as we plowed through it.  We piled off the sides of the pontoons into the surf, grateful for our rubber boots and waterproof pants, and stumbled ashore onto a beautiful, white sand beach. 

 

This island has Gentoo and King Penguins, also nesting in a number of rookeries.  There is a huge area where albatross nest as well, so lots of activity despite the need to incubate the eggs and protect them from the large birds that always hang around the nesting areas.  The king penguins are beautiful, tall, stately birds, with patches of bright yellow on their heads and necks.  They ignore the tourists but are very pleased to be photographed. 

Today, we spent the day in Stanley, the only town of the Falklands.  I will write more about it tomorrow.  All these islands are rocky and barren, with no trees and lots of gorse in full bloom, brought by the British to serve as hedgerows, but now an invasive pest on much of the islands.  About 2100 people live in Stanley and 600 in the “camp”, the rural areas on the other islands.  They are a British Overseas Territory, with a British-appointed governor, and an 8 member (5 from Stanley and 3 from the camps) elected legislature that governs these specks of land.  More about their politics and fears of Argentina tomorrow.

Black browed albatross nesting

Meanwhile, we are back at sea for 2 ½ days, heading to South Georgia Island, where we hope the weather will let us land (meaning winds below 35 knots and surf that won’t crash over the Zodiacs).

View from West Falkland mountain

 

 

 

First Day at Sea 

Last night, as soon as we left the Beagle Channel, the Atlantic treated us to much bigger swells, rocking the boat noticeably more.  Today, the swells increased all day, so I am grateful for my seasickness patch, which has kept me from feeling seasick amidst considerable rolling and pitching.  Don, who survived his Navy days, is duded up in his coat and tie for the Captain’s Dinner—and flat on his back wishing he were anywhere but on a ship.  I’ve plied him with Dramamine, which we hope will be easing his stomach soon. 

We awoke to a gorgeous blue sky, with a chilling wind.  It is light this far south from about 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.  This morning’s lecture was on seabirds of the Antarctic region—petrels, albatrosses, penguins and more.  We were fascinated to learn that these birds spend most of their lives on the open water, going to land only to breed and raise their young.   

Giant Albatross in flight

The albatrosses typically don’t reproduce until they are 16 years old and even then lay only 1 egg, so their reproduction is tenuous.  Consequently, they often live to be 60 years old or more, so they can reproduce for many years.  The much smaller petrels, on the other hand, live only a few years, and usually hatch 8 chicks per year. 

Sea birds rest on the water, but they spend most of their time swooping down to the water, where they either grab some surface fish or squid or turn into the wind to get the lift they need to rise high again.  The giant albatross’ wing span is 8 to 10 feet, with very stiff feathers along the front sides of their wings, which improves their aerodynamics.  

Petrel following the Silver Explorer

Tomorrow we will visit 2 remote landings on West Falkland Island, to see the nesting colonies of the Black Browed Albatrosses, a huge and gorgeous bird with distinctive white and black markings and black feathers above their eyes (the black brows).  There will be thousands of nests to see in the deeply tufted grasses.  We will also see Magellanic Penguins, who bury their nests in in the rocks and sand.  All our landings are by zodiacs and mostly “wet”, so landing in the surf.  Hence our high-topped rubber boots. 

This business of the cruise ship is quite interesting.  Silverseas owns the ship, but it is operated by contract crews hired from a contractor who provides crews to cruise ships all over the world.  The expedition staff, who plan and lead all our shore visits and drive the zodiacs, are also contract personnel, some working for the contractor and some free lancing.  There are 120 crew members and 119 passengers on this ship, so we are well-cared for, well-fed, and increasingly well-educated about this part of the world.

Ushuaia and Beyond 

Don practicing his life jacket skills

We’ve had our emergency evacuation drill on our cruise ship, the Silver Explorer, and can feel the engines vibrating as we prepare to leave Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world.  Don and I were here almost 15 years ago, before it became a special economic development zone and was still much like a frontier town.  Today, it has 70,000 inhabitants and an economy that thrives on manufacturing and tourism.  The city is on a small beachhead on the Beagle Channel, surrounded by water, mountains, and glaciers.  The snow line is only about 700 feet above the sea. 

Mountains surrounding Ushuaia

You arrive in Ushuaia, if by plane, by flying down a narrow glacial valley between two rugged, snowy mountain ranges, then glide above the Beagle Channel into the airport.  Glaciers abound in the high valleys.  Several years ago, my son, Jim, and I were here hiking and enjoyed a wonderful trek up one of these valleys, along a rushing river, and on up a steep mountainside to a large glacier.  Stunning! 

Lookiing west from the Beagle Channel

We are now underway, have met the crew, and are in the calm of the Beagle Channel for at least another few hours.   I have my seasickness patch firmly in place, but am grateful for the smooth ride, at least for now.  This is quite a ship, with beautiful cabins, lots of windows, and plenty of service, including a butler staff to take care of anything anyone needs.  The expedition crew is from all over the world and each has a specialty, ranging from marine biology to ornithology to geology and history. 

 

The scenery is absolutely gorgeous, as we are surrounded by mountains and glaciers.  There is a little agriculture and several estancias along the Beagle Channel, but the terrain is too rugged and the weather too chilly to sustain much farming.  We walked on deck after we left Ushuaia and soon retreated to our cabin to dress up in fleece and down as the wind chill required.  We're very excited about seeing this part of the world and will continue to report on what we see.