Whales, Seals & Birds of Antarctica

Humpbacks!
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There was probably no one on board the Clipper Adventurer who was more excited about seeing whales than our captain. That was lucky for us as it meant that he would stay with them as long as they would tolerate us (they could always dive and disappear). The captain would exclaim, “WHALES!” and then rush out of the wheel house to steer from the port or the starboard instrument case. “INCREDIBLE!” he would shout in his German accent as they would make their appearance – blows, backs, fins, and flukes. No matter where you were in the ship, you knew when there were whale sightings!  And there were many!

They too seem curious about us.
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Sitting up in the wheel house I was lucky to see several MINKE whales porpoise through the waves. One night at dinner I saw a pod of ORCAS swim by the ship. But mostly we saw humpbacks. Our greatest thrill was one time when four were feeding. They would dive together and we would watch for the bubbles that surrounded and confused the krill driving them to the surface. Then the whales would surface too, mouths agape, gulping in, filtering out the water and retaining the krill. Sometimes the last we would see of them would be the red excrement they would leave with us as they took that last dive and disappeared.  What a thrill!

The Antarctic is an amazing home to many mammals and birds. We need to keep it protected!

Beautiful fluke shots
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Another time five of them came really close to the ship – one coming out head first, quite high in the air, as if to look at us, another rolling to its side with a huge eye on us. I went up on the bow sprit and could not believe them – they were REALLY close and I mean to tell you, they are REALLY HUGE! They would play in the bow waves, blowing and diving and turning. Here are some of Denny’s GREAT pictures!

Seals were another real treat with sightings on land as well as from the ship and on Zodiak tours. The fur seals were the most plentiful and we had to watch our step on the coasts as they could easily be mistaken for a large rock until you came too close and they would raise up and bellow.

Sally's seat in the wheel house.
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Weddell seals were often spotted on ice flows. Leopard seals were usually in the water . Once on an evening Zodiac tour we had one swim all around us, turning and playing. It looked like it wanted to jump right in the boat with us! Crabeater seals were more scarce but equally beautiful. Groups of 20 or more elephant seals were on several beaches molting. Our resident biologist said that they congregated at this time for warmth. However, if one would disturb the others there would see be an enormous uproar with heads raised and barking and bellowing.

They are SO big!
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Mostly we saw male seals as the females were still with their pups at the breeding grounds further south. These were “immature” males and supposedly “small” – makes you appreciate how gigantic a breeding male must grow to be! They fight for the right to breed much like the elk in the Tetons.

Like in Africa, there are so many wonderful birds in the Antarctic, Denny and I could easily become birders. There were two ornithologists on board and they kept us busy with our binoculars as they would announce sightings of different birds. I became enamored with albatross after our New Zealand trip two years ago and have been reading quite a bit about them. They were almost always around the boat when there was wind. Plus we visited several rookeries. The chicks just sit on their nests waiting for a parent to return from sea to feed them. They are much more patient than the penguin chicks! The many, varied petrels too were usually with us and then there were the shore birds.

They come so close, seem to be as curious about us as we are about them.
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It was a sad and yet a fascinating sight to watch the predatory skuas sort through the penguin chick crèches to find the weak one – almost like watching the wolves sort through the elk herd. They would chase it, rarely losing it even if it stayed within the crèche. If it floundered out, it was doomed. The food chain in action…pretty amazing!

Denny also got a few other great shots of rarer birds like the Snowy Sheathbill and the South American Snipe.

The most plentiful ones we saw again and again sharing rookeries with different penguin groups, were the Blue-eyed or Imperial Cormorant, easily and often confused with the Rock Shag. Their chicks at this time of the year were almost as big as the adults.  It was too funny to watch them beg and get fed when they certainly looked able to go hunting for themselves.

First someone spots the spouts and then the captain turns the ship toward them
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The Antarctic is an amazing home to many mammals and birds. We need to keep it protected!

Though I got the pictures uploaded today, I could not re-order them.  So I will try again another day!  ENJOY!