ODO: 334,053
At 8:34am we cross the Antarctic Circle!! This is four minuets later than the Captain wanted to arrive, so he has thoughts and feelings about this. We don’t care, we’re elated! Now we have, in our travels together, crossed both the Arctic and Antarctic circles! Today is also the day we get to go on our first excursion. We have no idea what to expect. The boat has the passengers separated into color groups for excursions, and they call you when it’s your turn to get off the boat. When they call our color we bundle up and head to the “mud room” where we are loaded into zodiacs.
We get a zodiac tour of the waters around Detaille Island where our expedition guide points our crab killer seals before brining us to shore. This island is home to an abandoned British base from the 40’s. There is nothing but amazing scenery all around us. This is also our training excursion where we learn all the rules for being on Antarctica, like our boots need a good scrub followed by disinfecting before we can re-board the ship. We explore the small island for our allotted hour, during which time KoKo and one of our new Canadian friend are buzzed by an Albatross!
Todays afternoon activity is the Polar Plunge. Exactly what it sounds like, this is our opportunity to jump into the frigid sea we are currently anchored in. We jump together, KoKo jumping towards the ladder, Berne diving gracefully away from the boat. THE WATER IS FUCKING COLD. It takes our breathe away the instant we hit the water. KoKo is back on the boat and starting to head inside before Berne has swam back to the ladder. During dinner the Captain announces we are heading back to open water so KoKo panics and takes her seasickness pill immediately, and heads back to the room for a preventative lay down. This sea swell is much smaller, so no sickness overnight.
Pleneau Island is todays destination, and our first penguin colony! We land in what feels like the middle of the colony. There are penguins EVERYWHERE! Many of them are molting, so cant move until they are finished going through this stage. We are warned to stay five feet away from them at all times, but this is tough because they are not afraid of us at all, so wander over regularly. And boy are they cute! Their tiny legs, hopping from rock to rock, waddling along between the rocks. We spend out allotted time taking way too many pictures and videos of the penguins going about their business.
Back on the boat, the Captain wants to take us on a scenic cruise through the Lemaire Channel. The entrance looks sporty, filled with icebergs. A drone is sent to scout as we are called to the bow of the ship to watch the spectacle. From a distance it looks impossible, but once the ship is squared up, we enter the channel no problem. Over dinner we get to enjoy the beauty of the narrow passage, full of wildlife, icebergs and glaciers.
Another morning, another penguin colony. The first half of our morning is spent sight-seeing Neko Harbor’s non-penguin wildlife. We see eight crab eater seals sleeping on a large piece of ice on our way to watch a flock of Wilson’s Storm Petrels dance along the surface of the water. Fun fact! Wilson’s Storm Petrels are the smallest warm blooded animal that lives in Antarctica. When we land, its official, we have stepped foot on Antarctica proper!! The penguin colony here is a large hill, with several penguin highways on it. We get to watch the penguins waddle thru them, navigate traffic jams, and generally be cute. This is also the first ever hash on Antarctica, which we participate in because the marked hash route is also the route we need to stay on to keep the penguins safe from us. There are glaciers all around us in the harbor, and we see one calf twice. The wave the ice makes in the bay cause the penguins closest to the water to run for higher ground.
After all this wildlife, its time for our mid day relax before we head back out to view even more wildlife. Back in the zodiacs, we see several humpback whales swimming through the ice, and a handful of seals sleeping on the ice. The harbor is full of small icebergs, each a different, amazing sculpture. We get another hash first, the first ever zodiac hash, aka the zash. Our group ended up way off course and way over due in our pursuit of whales, but still get to have a zodiac beer at the end. Tonight’s dinner is a barbeque on the back deck of the ship. We have ribs, burgers, sausage, and a suckling pig! There is even berry cobbler and apple pie for desert.
