Right Whale Bay, South Georgia , 3/4/2020, National Geographic Orion
Aboard the
National Geographic Orion
Antarctica
We attempted a landing at Right Whale Bay today, but unfortunately, the weather had other plans for us. Intense gusts of wind from the land made launching a Zodiac impossible. However, it did make for wonderful photography, whipping up sea spray. We found less windy conditions further offshore where we spent some time watching blue whales, before heading west for the Falkland Islands some 770 nautical miles away.
For as long as he can remember, Conor has always been preoccupied with the natural world, from the whales to the fungi. For most of his life he has been an islander: growing up in Cobh, Ireland and settling down in Tobermory in the Hebrides, Scotland...
We wake up crossing the Errera Channel, through ice of all sizes and varieties adrift with the area’s tidal current. Weather: foggy visibility with rain, but free of wind. The islands around us disappear in the mist, before reappearing again after a while. We land on Danco Island, named after the geophysicist who died from heart trouble during his winter aboard Belgica led by Adrien De Gerlache in 1898. We walk following a scree slope that leads to the top of the small island. We pass by a few rookeries of gentoo penguins and stop to watch their interactions. That one is feeding its chicks, quite big already, around 1.5 months old on this island. Another one still maintains its nest by bringing some pebbles. Once on top, the silence takes over the excitement of the rookery. The views of the surrounding glaciers come and go with the mist. As it is raining, the ice cracks in the glaciers weaken, and we can hear them roaring and calving in the distance. Early in the afternoon, we attend a presentation of Tom Ritchie about the famous explorers of the area: De Gerlache, Charcot and Nordenskjold. Then, we approach Dallman Bay and immediately we observe two humpback whales. The light is fantastic, the visibility excellent, we even have blue skies! We start Zodiac cruising around the Melchior Island group, beginning with whale watching around the feeding humpbacks for a while. We are surrounded by rocky islands that are permanently covered by ice cliffs. Some surprises wait for us around each corner of the islands. A few chinstrap penguins here, there some Antarctic fur seals, a leopard seal on an ice floe, some shags and gulls nesting, some Weddell seals hauling out. We arrive back aboard late for our recap, one ultimately interrupted because of humpback whale breaching and orcas spotted from the bridge! This is how our last day of activity ends in Antarctica! And now, we take on the Drake…
