~ Marcel Proust
Seymour Island
Despite the gray and overcast morning, we made our way down the east side of the Antarctica Peninsula into the Weddell Sea. Along the way, we were fortunate enough to observe two Emperor penguins in separate locations. The first one we saw was probably younger because it’s oracular (around the eye) patch of orange, yellow and red color was less bright than the second Emperor. Apparently it is very rare to see Emperor penguins this far north. They are different than other penguin species because the female lays only one egg on ice, in the winter. Other species lay two and have a nest for the eggs. Shortly thereafter, while the father carefully balances the single egg on his feet, the female leaves to feed. The incubation period is 2 months compared to one month for the other species. Throughout the two months, the fathers of the colony huddle together and rotate inside and around the group as a way to keep warm and wait for winter to pass. The female returns shortly after the chicks are born and the father heads out to sea to eat. In addition to the Emperor, the other penguins I have seen on this expedition (Adélie, chinstrap, and Gentoo) are brush tails. Five species are found on Antarctica so the macaroni is the only other species I didn’t see. We were also lucky enough to see rock shags and an elephant seal.
We didn’t have any landing, but instead took a zodiac around Seymour Island and very close to an ice sheet. Resting on the ice was an Antarctic Shag, also known as the blue-eyed shag. The blue is actually a ring of blue tissue around the eye. For a flying bird, its ability to dive is phenomenal, due to its webbed feet. There was a colony visible on the side of the geologic structure on the island. We were able to see the storage area for frozen, refrigerated and dry food as well as the behind the scenes work. Stina said she cooks the meals day by day and plans according to what she has on hand. Two times a season they have a container come from the U.S. with dry good; once in December and the other in February.
Galley Tour
Ellie, Kathy and I were able to visit with Stina, the head chef aboard the National Geographic Explorer. She is from Stockholm, Sweden and has been with the company for seven years and her passion and pride shines through when you listen to her. We learned that the Galley crew is composed of 12, two full time dishwashers and herself. They have a baker section, food preparer section; meats in one section, vegetables in another, and regular cooks. There is also a cook who prepares food just for the Pilipino workers, many of whom are deck hands, waiters and housekeepers. It was evident they are a team and take great pride in their work. The food has been extraordinary - we are all well fed!
Nightly Recap
Each afternoon and sometimes in the evening, naturalists give brief talks about something we may have seen throughout the day. We have an extreme adventure doctor aboard named Alex. He was the doctor who was trying to help with the making of Chasing Shackleton documentary. He has shared some insight about the entire idea and expedition itself. It sounds like it was a very difficult ordeal to make the documentary.
Later at night, we ventured out to the boat deck as the captain announced we had a perfect opportunity to capture the shadow of the ship on an iceberg. How cool is that?
Unless stated, all photos were taken by Beth Thomas.