twangster
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This morning was an introduction to the Adélie penguin.
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The first zodiac groups were called and away they went.
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The anchor dropped and we had arrived.
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Penguins were using the ice sheets for a rest and safe haven from any leopard seals that may be about. Nothing like a massive ship approaching to wake you from your slumber. To the water! Looking aft from where we came I could see how the bridge team had picked their way through the pieces of ice in the sound. Our destination for today lies ahead. To get there we negotiated our way around more icebergs.
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Eager to cast my eyes upon the Antarctic Sound I ventured up to deck 9 forward. The story of today, or much of it, involves ice. There was no shortage of ice in the sound.
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A quick note about the sites that we will visit in Antarctica. They determine the sites that will be visited a day or so before we visit them. Weather changes rapidly. Ice conditions change daily. They don't know exactly where they will or can take expedition tours that far in advance. Instead they pick from sites that are available, or they hope will be available, for the conditions that day. The sites I visit on this voyage may be the same or different from other voyages in the past or future.
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Day Thirteen - Brown Bluff and Hope Bay, Antarctica Position report:
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A pretty spectacular sunset to end a fantastic day. How often do you get an iceberg in your sunset pictures? Very calm seas tonight
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What a day. Beautiful weather at Point Wild. A whale extravaganza. Walking on Elephant Island. Wow! Can it get any better?
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After the briefing the sail away brought more whale sightings. At one point I walked into my suite and there were two whales right there just off my balcony.
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Daily briefing for tomorrow was held earlier. The goal is to make Brown Bluff in the morning and Hope Bay in the afternoon.
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After a short time on the beach it was back to the ship.
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Kayaking is equally rare here. Theres from the Kayak team had told me yesterday it has been once in six years for her. Today would make number two. Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins can be found here. Elephant seals resting on the beach.
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Landing on Elephant Island is so rare many of the expedition team have never been able to do so in five or more years.
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We were very lucky today. Not only would we have a zodiac tour but we would be able to land on Elephant Island today. If a penguin sees its own shadow does that mean six more weeks of summer? I'm not sure it saw its shadow.
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Eventually we started making our way closer to the island. An Antarctic Shag photobombed my picture. The water was so clear I could see a penguin swimmming just under the surface.
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It was bitterly cold with the windchill from the moving ship in the wind but there were so many whales. The scenery was pretty outstanding as well.
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We had been informed this was a whale hotspot. It was. There were some penguins out here as well. They were everywhere and all around. Some near. Some far. Whales to the left and whales to the right. I have never seen so many whales in one location before. It went on for hours.
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Sailing along the coast of Elephant Island was beautiful. But also very cold in the wind. Despite the cold we were out here for a reason. Whales.
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Departing from Point Wild yielded one more chance to capture the Chinstrap in action. Such a great weather day!
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Our New Year's Eve Gala is tonight and the dress code is... casual. The Venetian Society gathering a few days had some formally dressed participants.
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Having trouble uploading photos to CC at the moment. Will update this thread later.
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Here is a 360 photo from Point Wild. Point Wild, Elephant Island 360 Photo
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I received a phone call in my suite between stops. Remember that silent auction for the South Georgia Heritage Trust? I won... the most expensive bottle of whiskey I've ever purchased. Buy hey, it's a for a great organization and a pretty cool bottle.
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