Christmas in Paradise
Ocean Tramp – Anna Galaeva
Day 6: Christmas in Paradise
There are no scheduled holidays in Antarctica, even Christmas Day is just another day for Mother Nature, but it turned out to be a very special day, which, in fact, we ended in Paradise! We left Melchior islands early morning, and there were many interesting sights for us ahead.
It was snowing again, but we had our first stop at Cuverville Island planned, rain (snow) or shine, penguins approved.
Those magnificent little creatures are so much fun to observe! I was especially impressed by one penguin, who was making many rounds picking up rocks and sticks going pretty far away from his nest, and on a way back he had to cross difficult terrain, jump several times, but he was very determined to make his lady comfortable. He was a real gentlemen, not stealing from the neighbors, but choosing much more complex way to enhance his nest. I’m sure the chicks will appreciate such responsible and loving father!
After lunch we had another landing, at Ketley Point, where a penguin colony was accompanied by a large colony of Antarctic Shags (Cormorants family) – those guys were also very busy – females were sitting on their nests feeding
chicks, who look pretty large, and definitely hungry. Some had three or even four chicks, and those chicks were very demanding! Males were also busy bringing seaweed to make nests more comfortable and to show how much they care.
A couple of those guys landed right next to me, so I was able to observe them from the close distance. Very elegant and beautiful birds!
It was hard to leave that spot, but after a couple of hours we had to return to the boat, and we did it just in time to receive a message on a radio from another boat that orcas are heading our way!
Excitement level was hard to describe, everyone was on deck in anticipation to spot them. The scenery was amazing, and it was hard not to be distracted by views and dramatic light over the mountains covered with snow and glaciers.
In 5-10 minutes we had a first sight of orcas in a distance! What a great present for Christmas Day! Not many people have a chance to see them in Antarctica, and it would be definitely much harder, if we were aboard a large cruise ship, having a sail boat and small group definitely has many advantages.
Ocean Tramp crew positioned the boat, turned off the engine so we could drift and have the whales cross our paths.
It was exciting to watch orcas getting closer and closer, and we noticed there were definitely more than one – there were about 15 of them with a baby and they were heading our way! One got so close, that we could see the white belly in the water just few feet away from the boat!
What a day, probably that’s how true Paradise looks in Antarctica! Maps confirmed, that as we were getting closer and closer, passing Chilean Gonzalez Videla base and soon after Argentinian Brown base.
But we had one more present waiting for us – the Skontorp Cove, our home for the night, welcomed us with mirror like water and beautiful glaciers all around. Large boats cannot go to that cove, but it’s a popular place, and we shared it with two more sail boats – one made a great subject to photograph with glaciers in the background.
It’s really hard to pick one picture representing that day – penguins carrying pebbles, beautiful ice creations, amazing light over the mountains, orcas, perfect reflections of magnificent glaciers. Really tough choice! But the group vote was for Antarctic Shags, followed by another though choice of what scene to pick :), but this couple of busy guys, bringing seaweed for their ladies, who landed few feet away from me, won the popularity contest 🙂
The day ended with the delicious dinner followed by traditional Irish desert and champagne to celebrate! Pretty much all of us here are away from our families during this traditional family holiday time, and it felt great to to have festive spirit, huge thanks to the crew, who had a very busy day!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Blog -Anna Galaeva
Photo -Anna Galaeva
