Today is all about whales! We were able to sleep in this morning, since we were to do a shipboard whale watching cruise in Wilhelmina Bay. What a whale watching place it was! Clay got up first and went to the treadmill where he watched a pod of orcas. He was sorry he did not have his camera with him and I was asleep! I did see some tall black triangles, or orca fins, in the distance towards shore when I woke up but I did not get a photo either, as I had to go to the bathroom and when I got back they were gone. Too bad!
We tried to get to breakfast but there were 3 humpback whales right up against the back of the ship and we got distracted! One of them might have actually nosed the back of the ship at the marina! I got a pretty good video or two! The same 3 looked in the 2nd floor dining room windows at us as we sat there having breakfast. I think it was the best breakfast ever, with whales! We were able to get eggs cooked to order this morning as there were not many people in the main restaurant today. First morning that I haven't eaten oatmeal! They did not have bananas or chocolate croissants today. I also had some peanut butter toast, so after a lot of pasta I finally got some protein today. It seems that if you need a no salt added diet, you mostly get offered plain pasta with oil and parmesan. I like that but it gets old. But, back to the whales. Two of them came right up to the window we were sitting beside and just stared in! One of them rolled over and Clay had his camera sitting on the table and he just shot as fast as he could. It is an incredible series of photos, even through the window.
After breakfast, 3 Humpback whales played at the front of the ship going back and forth under the ship. The Captain was out on the front deck and was so excited. Along with a bunch of staff. Nico was right out on the point of the ship with short sleeves and no socks! He must have ice for blood. I finally decided to just avoid the crowds and see what I could from the shelter of my own cabin and balcony. I think I got some pretty good video, but at least 3 times Humpbacks have stuck their snouts up right under my balcony and I have been so startled that I haven't even managed to lift my camera! As I sit at the table by my cabin window typing this I can hear whale blows and see the spray right outside and have to keep running out. I think I got some pretty good video of them. I am using Clay's old Olympus and it has a slow refresh speed so I have just started turning on the video and waiting to see what I can catch. It was amazing.
Clay stayed out front and got some really amazing photos of those 3 Humpback whales examining the front of the ship. The Captain called it the ballet of the whales. They were dancing with each other and with us. It was really kind of eerie, like they were trying to communicate or something.
Everything, everywhere you look is incredible here. It is another blue sky, sunny day, crisp and cold with a little breeze and cloud cover today. We passed some fur seals on an iceberg; the Captain says they are not usually this far south. Oh, we are in Wilhelmina Bay. That is not on my map, but it should be in the vicinity of the Gerlache Strait, since we will cruise the Neumayer Channel this afternoon and go ashore at Port Lockroy this afternoon.
Oh, I have a new motto. Nico, our expedition leader, showed a montage of videos of how not to get in and out of zodiac. At one point, showing the wrong way, he intoned in a thick French accent; “The dangeur comes from the sea.” It is my new motto, in accented English, replacing; Keep away from the water.
After lunch today, we returned to our cabin to find a midcruise comment card. I think we might have mentioned that our cabin, 327, stinks. We had previously spoken to our stewardess about it, she sprayed it and left both doors open to air it out that first night. No help. We complained at the Reception Desk and as far as we know nothing happened. So willing to go all the way, since the form was addressed to the hotel manager, I wrote once again about our cabin that smelled of decomposing krill. Well, within in minutes he was at our door. Came in and agreed with our assessment about the smell (though honestly it was only half as bad today as the day we moved in!) and offered to move us to another cabin while we went ashore. (He noted that Clay answered the door in his long johns!) We asked where and he said deck 6. We both immediately said no, that due to motion sickness we had to stay low and center and would just stay put. He asked to do some checking and get back to us. That was fine. Clay thought he saw him head forward where we had seen some of the workers aboard head toward the medical center at the very front. He came back and said the head housekeeper told him that to clean rotting organic matter out of the drapes and carpet would take more than 24 hours and that they needed us to vacate the cabin. He assured us we would stay on deck 3. Clay said again after he left that he thought he was moving us forward. So I went to find him to find out exactly where we were agreeing to move before they ousted us. He told me that they had a ship's employee in cabin 322 directly across the hall from us. He assured me it would be the same, just on the port side instead of starboard and not smelly. He was right, though from the glares I got from the confab going in in front of 322 when I returned to 327; I can say someone was none too happy. Well, what's done is done and I give credit to the hotel manager for taking quick and decisive action when he finally heard about our problem. It is unfortunate that our original complaint did not carry immediately up the chain of command because the stewardess knew the first day we walked in and came right back out complaining when she told us that the cabin had gotten wet on the previous cruise's return crossing.
So, we packed up everything except our hanging clothes and when we returned from our afternoon at Port Lockroy we got new key cards. We found the cabin identical except in smell. There is only one balcony chair and there are 2 big iron braces across the balcony opening that we did not have before. Since the balcony is so enclosed with solid metal anyway we never sat in our chairs because we couldn't see out. So, that doesn't matter. The only other difference we might notice is that before when sailing we were in bed facing forward, now we'll be in bed facing aft. I hope that doesn't mess me up!
Today the Captain had us all don our parkas and report to the pool deck for a group photo. We expect they are selling that separate from the DVD they have been working throughout the trip!
I am feeling some better now, though I still have a fever and am producing massive amounts of yellow snot. Gross!
Port Lockroy has a Post Office and a gift shop and a museum. You could walk through and see how they lived in there fifty years ago. It would have been hard! And it would have been stinky, surrounded by a big Gentoo rookery. We also took a zodiac cruise with a Champagne toast included. We saw a Weddell seal, much cuter than Leopard. It is hard to believe tomorrow is our last day in Antarctica, yet a few hard but beautiful days are plenty. This is too strenuous a trip for me to want it to be any longer. Clay had some problems with his camera not focusing today, so most of the Port Lockroy photos are mine.
This afternoon was not as cold as yesterday and it was not windy and there were intermittent clouds which was a nice atmospheric touch. We sailed by, I believe they said, Mount Francais, the highest point on the Antarctic Continent. It came and went from view in the clouds all afternoon, very impressive.
The phone rang twice late this afternoon to find out if the occupant of this cabin had returned from ashore. Clay just said yes the first time and hung up, before I reminded him, they might be looking for the previous occupant. He went to the Reception Desk to try to straighten that out with no luck. Minutes before we set sail, he answered the phone again and said yes, my wife is sitting right here, yes she came back onboard, she's in the cabin. Then, he hung up. I can't believe they just took his word for it! He thought that was hilarious, that he could have left me in Antarctica. At least it was at a manned, or womaned, stop! There were definitely worse places here that he could have abandoned me!
Dinner tonight was good for me. The waiter immediately came and told me that the entire menu tonight was low sodium! I am full and ready for bed. We have a big full final day planned in Antarctica. We have scenic cruising starting at 7am to enter the caldera at Deception Island, ashore at 8am. Lunch and sail to Hannah Point. Tomorrow we are on the lookout for orcas, which we have not officially spotted, though Clay and I are both certain we did not miss their enormous dorsal fins this morning, and elephant seals and Chinstrap penguins.
Massive Photos
Massive Photos
