Location – Enterprise Island
Here is the next episode of “What’s Outside of Cruiseboy’s Veranda”. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the views here.
Let’s start with something I didn’t do. Today was the “Polar Plunge”. Yes, folks that paid a lot of money to be here decided to jump into near frozen water. On purpose. I did not participate, as I’ve been fighting a cold since I was in the Miami airport last week. In addition, I’ve had calf muscle cramping issues within the last year, and did not look forward to walking frozen beaches followed by Brazilian jungles with freshly-cramped muscles. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t talk some pictures…
It’s been raining all day, so I knew there is only so much I can do about image quality. Early into our zodiac tour we found some Blue-eyed Shags. Sounds like a Austin Powers joke, and they look like penguins from a distance. But the Shags can fly, so there you go.
Nearby we found a pair of adolescent fur seals. They were hooting and hollering like teen boys do.
We were very surprised to find a pair of humpback whales, as there was not much space between the islands. It seems they were a mother and child. Our guide said this was probably the last time they’d be together, as mid-year the mother would be ready to mate again. We got close enough to hear them exhale and inhale as they surfaced. An amazing moment, but the rain really did a number on my lens.
The shore-side glaciers were stunning, and a bit worrying. Many seemed ready to drop, which could easily swamp our zodiac.
This may be the first day in Antarctica without penguins. I feel cheated. Forecast is for 11 inches / 30 cm of snow tomorrow. We shall see.