Tag: Antarctica

_MG_8885As calm as the sea was between the first two stops, the ride to Macquarie Island was totally different. This part of the ocean is notoriously rough. Some of the passengers did not manage to get out of their cabin and even the crew struggled to stay upright from time to time. With the boat rolling up to 40 degrees either way, made having a meal difficult but not impossible. All lectures and videos had to be cancelled.

It took two full days at sea before Macquarie Island came in sight and by now we are as far away from mainland New Zealand as we will go on the trip. The island is the only one that is not New Zealand territory and home to a research expedition of Australia. Up to 40 people live here to do weather experiments and study wildlife. In the research ‘village’ we were welcomed with scones and tea in the bar/restaurant. The research station is located on the north end of the island. After the scones and the tour of the ‘village’ were finished we had to get ready to move on to the second stop on the Island.

On the south part of the Island, you will find Sandy Beach. Where the waves wash-up on the black sandy beaches, we encountered a true wildlife haven. This is the home of the Royal penguin, that breeds exclusively on this island. The bird looks very similar to the Macaroni penguin, but has a white chin. A nice wooden walkway lead us to a large colony of these smelly and noisy little friends. These 30cm tall birds have quite a personality, but that could be due to living just inches away from your neighbor. Returning to the nest means walking through the colony and get to close to a neighboring nest and you will be pecked at. When finally reaching the nest, a greeting ritual followed by some preening awaits.

Portrait of a Royal Penguin (Eudyptes schlegeli) looking directly into the camera on Macquarie Island, Australia

Where the Royal penguins colony is a great sight, no one was not expecting the beach to be even more fun. Here the penguins are more active with different species mixed and both species are interacting with the elephant seals from time to time. Returning from a fishing trip, or heading out, bathing in the ocean or dodging other animal species on the beach. At  first the birds are very shy. However, sit really still and they become very curious. Give it a few minutes and you will be surrounded by ten to twenty of them checking you out. This I will never get tired of. By now the penguin-counter is up to 11 and I have not yet seen what is around the corner.

On the north side of Sandy Beach there is a little peninsula that is a popular destination for elephant seals. Some of them venture onto Sandy Beach, but the larger seals rest and (play-)fight on/over the peninsula. Seeing the impressive size of the seals on the black sandy beach, makes me more than happy to admire the larger seals on the peninsula from a distance. The point where the beach turns into the peninsula is home to a large colony of king penguins. Although the colony is “just” a few thousand birds, it is an impressive sight. I can only imagine what the colony at St. Andews Bay on South Georgia looks like.

A few hours later we are back on the ship getting ready for another two days at sea. What a great day this has been. If possible, I would have stayed here for another couple of days….. Already curious what the next stop has to offer and if it can match Macquarie Island.

 

The sea between the last stop and the next group of islands is relatively calm, but still a full day apart. Most of the sailing is done overnight,  removing all notion of the distance. The continuing lectures and excellent meals also help distract from the travel between stops. Later in the trip this would be different, but for now there is enough to keep the passengers entertained.

Second on the list of stops is the Auckland Islands group, and more specifically, Enderby Island. Little did we know that this was going to be a special stop for two fellow passengers. During the night one female passenger fell down, injuring her shoulder seriously enough to require an airlift to New Zealand’s mainland. Where the island groups is only just withing range of rescue helicopters, it takes two pilots, one medic and a fuel stop on Enderby Island to get the lady and her companion back to the South Island.

Upon arrival on the Island, hundreds of Hooker seals were there to greet us. These curious animals look intimidating, but as this was the island that the Department of Conservation’s representative lived on for some time, she was able to provide some simple advise to keep them at distance: Keep your backpack in your hand in front of you. Where this sounds easy, the male seals are big enough to make anyone doubt if this will do the trick. Turns out, it did…

From the small beach where we ‘landed’ there was a nice path running all the way to the other side of the island and back. The path ran past some interesting sights, like a Norther giant petrel’s nest. A recently hatched chick was patiently waiting for its parents to bring food. It wasn’t just the wildlife that was special here. Just like several other islands that we were about to see, Enderby Island is covered in vegetation that takes forever to get where it is now. Not only are the plant species rare, they are also slow growing. As a result, you won’t find any tall trees on the island. All plants come up to my waist and it has taken dozens, if not hundreds of years to get that far. By the time we got to the other side of the island, both weather and shores have become a lot more rugged. Wind has picked up and the temperature has gone down. The high cliffs break the waves with loud noise and lots of splashes. Endemic cormorants take advantage of this roughness that keeps away predators. We take a few minutes to watch the wildlife and scenery before heading back.

Back on the beach, a next surprise awaits us: Yellow-eyed penguins return from a fishing trip. With these birds being incredibly shy, the first two pairs of penguins refuse to come on shore. Whether the noisy seals or us is keeping the seals away will always be a mystery, but eventually (after some hours of waiting) some did come on shore. For me this means two things: Tick-off penguin number 10 of 17 and more importantly, and a good laugh when one of the birds trips over a piece of kelp laying around on the beach.

Seeing the penguins marked the end of our stay on this island. Not a bad thing as the weather isn’t getting any better. It is not raining yet, but that is a matter of time. It is just a couple of hundred meters on a Zodiak, taking just a few minutes to reach the warm tea and coffee. Well before dinner we are back on board. Now that we have seen more wildlife and the passengers get to know each other, conversation during dinner is more lively than the days before. With two days of sailing to the next port of call ahead, we can look forward to sharing more stories and photos with fellow passengers.

In the next post, the most southern island, Macquarie Island.

About one day after leaving the port of Bluff (New Zealand), finally we arrive atarriving-at-the-snares-islands the first ‘port of call’. A full day at sea may sound like water and more water, but the crew will keep you entertained. There is the mandatory safety drill to start with, followed by (optional) lectures on all different subjects. And let’s not forget the delicious meals, all prepared on no more than a few square meters.
One of the lectures is done by the Department of Conservation, who travel on this ship to see if none of their rules are broken. The lady on board of our trip is marine biologist and a nice person, who has lived on one of the island groups we are visiting over the next weeks for several seasons, studying seals. From that experience, we was able to provide lots of surprising facts and funny anecdotes to make this one of many interesting lectures.

By now, we are at the Snares Islands, home to the snares penguin. It is a bird breeds on this group of islands only, hence its name. Those of you who do not know me, I have set myself a goal to see all penguin species and this is the main reason for me to take this trip. I am really excited and anticipating to see penguin species number 9 of 17.

Sadly, the morning fog makes it difficult to see anything, but at least we are out of the big waves in the Southern Ocean. So far, all we have seen is the peaks of stone sticking out of the ocean in front of the Islands. Fortunately the weather isn’t bad enough to stop the penguins from welcoming the boat about a mile from the islands. The counter of species that I have seen has now gone up from 8 to 9 with several more to come on this trip.

snares-penguinsWith the islands consisting of (extremely) rocky shores, covered in rare plants and wildlife, made the Department of Conservation decide to not open the islands for tourism. Only researchers of the Department of Conservation are allowed ashore. This rugged terrain combined with the bad weather means it is unsure if the Zodiak cruise of the afternoon can go ahead as planned.

Later in the day, the weather improved somewhat and this meant it was time for the first ‘excursion’ and a closer look at my feathered friends. Dressed in warm and waterproof clothes, we headed out. Wherever you look, the Islands and ocean is full of penguins, seals and other wildlife. The excitement of all 12 people on board quickly made you forget about the cold and wet weather.
Where this is just the first stop, I realize that the Beluga Reizen (the travel agent that arranged the trip for me) was right in calling this the ‘Galapagos of the South’. Little did I know that this was only the beginning of a trip that was about to become even more fantastic….

Later more on this amazing trip down South!

Five days after leaving home, finally we are there. The trip tom the white continent is by no means a quick or simple. From Amsterdam, the trip already lead to Buenos Aires for a quick visit to La Boca and the grave of Evita. The day after another flight to the former penal colony of Ushuaia, now a nice vibrant city. After doing some last-minute shopping, the time to board the boat is now approaching rapidly.

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) jumping out of the water onto the ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica

The port of Ushuaia is the departure point for most of the Antarctic voyages. First part takes you throught the Beagle Channel offers some nice views. Already at this point you will be able to see the first wildlife: Rockhopper penguins sometimes guide the boat to the open ocean.

About two-thirds of the way, from one minute to the next, you will feel like you are on Antarctica. Where the (relative) warm waters of the ocean around South America meet the cold waters of the Antarctica is known as the convergence. A point where the temperature drops by several degrees very quickly. From this moment on, the chances of seeing your first iceberg drastically increase, but will increase a lot more in the coming hours…

Aerial view of the sea ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica
Nearly two and a half days after setting sail from Ushuaia, the moment I have been waiting for is getting really close now. We have been fortunate to have a smooth two days sailing across the Drake Passage, as the waters between Antarctica and Ushuaia have been called. This part of the ocean is notoriously rough and being able to sail across to Snow Hill Island in ‘just’ two and a half day is pretty good. With the ship being an icebreaker, means that there are no stabilizers. Most of the other ships do have them and that makes it counter-act the effect the waves have on the boat. It does mean that the icebreaker can be parked in the ice. And so it was done.

Parking the ship in the ice makes the back of the boat a perfect landing spot for the helicopters that are on board. To not waste any time for the next day, there is a mandatory briefing for the next couple of days. Apart from the safety features and procedures for boarding and leaving the helicopter. It may sound silly, but they also explain that you are to follow the little markers when walking from the helicopter to the penguins. This would later turn out to be really useful during a small snow storm with visibility of less then 5 meters…

That evening I did not sleep at all, and looking at the popularity of the library and bar, neither did many of my fellow-travellers. At 9AM it was time: Ready to board the Russian helicopter and visit the penguins for the first time. A 10 minute flight and 30 minutes of walking and there they were: Emperor penguins and many of their chicks.

Icebreaker on Antarctica

For the next 5 days this was the plan. From early in the morning to as late as possible I spent with the birds, not using the possibility to be flown back to the ship for lunch.

On the last day the crew had a surprise in mind. Where we visited the colony but this last day we visited the edge of the sea ice. Here penguins jump out of the water to walk back to the colony and feed the chicks after a feeding trip. A perfect ending to five days of near perfect weather when watching penguins.

Next morning it is time to head back and everyone is hoping for another smooth crossing of the Drake Passage. Before we get there, we managed to convince the expedition leader to show us what an icebreaker is capable of. The ice, even when 2 or 3 meters thick, was no match for the ship. The most amazing end of our time on Antarctica came when we were allowed to get into the helicopter once more to fly over the sea ice and see the ship crash through the ice from the air.

Emperor penguins on the sea ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica
The day after we have experienced ourselves where the Drake Passage got his reputation. The ship was rolling 45 degrees to each side. Apart from making walking around and getting some tea more difficult, it also means getting a meal a lot more ‘fun’. The rough seas also have an impact on the time to reach Ushuaia. Almost three days later we arrive in Ushuaia… Tired but extremely happy….

From here the trip back home starts tomorrow. Six hours to Buenos Aires and from there 12 hours back home to Holland.

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