Day 38 - Mikkelsen Harbour (Penguins!!!)

Last night, sunset was at 11:46 PM and sunrise was at 2:39 AM – that’s a very short window, but I was still able to capture most of a “golden sunset” that Antarctica is known for, at 9:00 last evening…the sun is low enough in the horizon, that it creates a beautiful golden sky.

I also did a panorama photo from the bow of the ship this evening – I just can’t get over how beautiful it us all around us – you can’t find a place to look that you don’t see incredible beauty! WOW!

This morning, we did another Weather Balloon launch. Tomorrow, if all goes well, we should see the data that it collected.

The weather has changed – cloudy, with very low clouds (sometimes) on our way to our next location, Mikkelsen Harbor. The clouds did lift enough to catch Humpback Whales playing. They were rolling around - I think there were two in this group! It’s always a good day when you see whales!

This morning, while sitting in The Aula waiting for the Daily Briefing, I watched the tail end of a Passengers vs Ship’s Officers of Bago (throw the beanbag into a hole cut in a platform), my friend the Snowy Sheathbill came back to visit – he is so cute! He even tapped on the window, perhaps a plea to come in??

He finally got tired of us and headed on his way!

Mikkelsen Harbour provides excellent protection from the weather, and in the first part of the 1900’s was used by the whaling fleet.

My first excursion today was at 1:30, an SOB ride to the entrance to the harbour. We saw a colony of Gentoo Penguins, and then we followed a Humpback Whale as it made its way along the rocky coast. It was great fun!

This afternoon, I did a landing on the D’Hainaut Island – a little tiny island, even smaller than yesterdays – in the middle of Mikkelsen Harbour. Penguins, penguins, penguins!! This is the closest that we’ve been to them on the entire trip, we actually had to wait for them to cross between us before we could walk on the beach. The rules for viewing penguins in this area state that you must maintain a 15 foot distance from them – today, that was hard, as they kept walking up on us!

Too many pictures, but they’re so stinkin’ cute!

And here is a video so you can see them moving!

We also saw a Weddell Seal sleeping on the edge of the snow, but the pictures didn’t turn out – they look like rocks when they’re sleeping in the snow!

After a lovely dinner at the Italian Restaurant, I'm ready for a good nights sleep, and to look forward to what tomorrow brings!