The Ushuaia has sailed while we were asleep and set anchor in the Andvord Bay.
After the Dali desert in Bolivia this is the second time in this trip that we get the feeling to be standing in a surrealist painting.
The colour of the water, almost black, and the grey sky are the perfect canvass for the floating iridescent Icebergs.
Most importantly after days of heavy currents , storms, strong waves and winds, today everything is silent and nothing moves. A chilly majestic peace surrounds us.
We jump on the zodiac full of expectations.
Far in the distance on a flat floating table of ice a small black dot stands still.
As we get close we recognise the features of an Adele Penguin.
After yesterday’s visit at the Gentoo colony what’s interesting in this encounter is the fact that this little fellow is there alone.
We get quite close with our zodiac and the Penguin keeps doing his morning toilet without caring about us.
It bends so much on one side that the black and white of his feathers almost resemble the yin and yang sign.
Penguins produce a protective oil from their tail that they spread over their bodies with their beaks.
Suddenly the Adele penguin strands up straight and looks at us with his blue intense eyes showing all his beauty (it is by far our favourite).
I manage to catch it just on time before it dives and disappears in the dark waters.
Not far from our first encounter we also make a second encounter, this time with a seal (probably a crab eater seal)
The seal is taking a nap on the snow. His body is all covered in scars.
We are told that it could have been the work of another seal, the Leopard seal.
The seal rolls over to check us out and goes back to sleep as we do not represent a threat (nor a treat)
It is quite interesting how reality never matches expectations.
Somehow in our minds we expected to see a huge amount of animals, whales, orcas, seals and penguins swimming around us, almost on top of each other.
So far we have made only few encounters and yet we are not disappointed.
Every encounter becomes almost special as it is a rare thing.
That aside we never get tired of admiring the surrounding sceneries.
If Elena has come here to see the penguins I must confess I came primarily to see the orcas, possibly in action while capturing and devouring a leopard seal.
On the way back I ask the question to our skipper: “do you think we will see the orcas”?
The answer is not what I was hoping for: “in 8 years I have never seen one”.
Is that true or is he only managing our expectations?
And yet sometimes dreams come true.
As we board ship and get ready for a hot shower the captain announces again “there is a flock of orcas at 1 o clock”.
This time it us who run half naked out with the camera hanging around the neck.
3 killer orcas are swimming far in the distance almost forming a line.
The zoom on the camera is just enough to capture their elegant shapes.
Finally the moment I was hoping for is approaching.
There are 3 penguins trapped on a small iceberg watching death coming towards them.
Elena is clinging on my arm, feeling and cheering for the penguins.
I am thorn between hoping for the penguins to escape but at the same time I would like to see the Orcas in action.
As the Orcas swim behind the small iceberg the penguins lay on the ground and we almost lose sight of them.
Finally one of the orcas rises the head above water. It is very quick and at the same time so exciting that everyone shouts simulteniously.
It is not a deadly attack however, it is more to glance at the penguins out of curiosity.
The orca carries on swimming and after 1 minute, as danger has now gone away, the penguins lift their heads again. They are safe and Elena cheers.
Now that the excitement is over I think that only half hr ago we were in the same waters on our small zodiac where orcas are swimming.......
The afternoon goes on with another landing on the Antarctic soil.
We visit another Gencoo colony and Elena and I are immediately captured by a very hard working little fellow.
This is the time when the females lay their egg and the male helps in building the nest.
They do that by either gathering small stones in the surrounding area or by steeling the stones of their neighbours.
This couple built their nest on top of a very steep rock so that the poor fellow had to constantly climb up and down risking to fall at every step and yet managing to keep the balance all the time.
He must have gone up and down at least 30 times in the space of 10 minutes....we were laughing so much that we were almost in tears.
The day ended with the sight of an Elephant seal "puppy"catching the last rays of sun.
No comments:
Post a Comment