Weddell Sea & Devil Island, Antarctica
Those of us inspired to get up at sunrise (2:30 am) or even a couple of hours after sunrise were rewarded with beautiful morning lighting on the icebergs in the Weddell Sea, and the peace and contemplation of the ship at that hour. The rest of us who chose the more civilized wake-up were equally delighted with our first looks outside. Tabular icebergs, glacial icebergs and various sized sea ice remnants were drifting as far as the eye could see. The tabular icebergs of the Weddell Sea are reminiscent of the mesa lands of Arizona painted in bright white on a deep blue background.
As usual it was hard to be inside when the scenery outside was so spectacular. Even a quick breakfast was difficult to finish when we heard that our sixth species of penguin had been spotted. The largest of all penguins, the emperor was in view on the ice! With some expert maneuvering on the part of our captain, we were able to get excellent views of this giant of the penguin world. We continued south into the Weddell Sea as far as the pack ice would allow and turned north again within sight of Snow Hill Island, but not before finding another emperor and a crabeater seal. The crabeater, as we have all learned, is a misnomer since this seal makes its diet of krill, not crabs at all.
After lunch we made a landing at Devil Island. Some of us took the aerobic option and climbed to the top of one of the two “horns” which inspired the island’s name. The view of nearby Vega Island was stunning, as were the deep blue icebergs in the bay below. Down near the shoreline, thousands of Adelie penguins were busy with the usual chores of penguin life - incubating eggs, caring for chicks, stealing rocks, bonding with their mates, commuting back and forth to the waters edge, and occasionally fighting over something that was not so obvious to us, but perhaps of great importance to them. What was important to us was to have the time to sit and watch and smile and soak it all in. Once again we did.
Those of us inspired to get up at sunrise (2:30 am) or even a couple of hours after sunrise were rewarded with beautiful morning lighting on the icebergs in the Weddell Sea, and the peace and contemplation of the ship at that hour. The rest of us who chose the more civilized wake-up were equally delighted with our first looks outside. Tabular icebergs, glacial icebergs and various sized sea ice remnants were drifting as far as the eye could see. The tabular icebergs of the Weddell Sea are reminiscent of the mesa lands of Arizona painted in bright white on a deep blue background.
As usual it was hard to be inside when the scenery outside was so spectacular. Even a quick breakfast was difficult to finish when we heard that our sixth species of penguin had been spotted. The largest of all penguins, the emperor was in view on the ice! With some expert maneuvering on the part of our captain, we were able to get excellent views of this giant of the penguin world. We continued south into the Weddell Sea as far as the pack ice would allow and turned north again within sight of Snow Hill Island, but not before finding another emperor and a crabeater seal. The crabeater, as we have all learned, is a misnomer since this seal makes its diet of krill, not crabs at all.
After lunch we made a landing at Devil Island. Some of us took the aerobic option and climbed to the top of one of the two “horns” which inspired the island’s name. The view of nearby Vega Island was stunning, as were the deep blue icebergs in the bay below. Down near the shoreline, thousands of Adelie penguins were busy with the usual chores of penguin life - incubating eggs, caring for chicks, stealing rocks, bonding with their mates, commuting back and forth to the waters edge, and occasionally fighting over something that was not so obvious to us, but perhaps of great importance to them. What was important to us was to have the time to sit and watch and smile and soak it all in. Once again we did.
