Occupying the space between the very most southern tip of South America and Antarctica is the treacherous stretch of sea known as Drake’s Passage. With terrible weather, colliding current streams and absolutely no land to calm the water, it is a rough 400 mile stretch. I only expected to see penguins and icebergs out there. I really didn?t know what else to expect. I hadn?t researched the history or geography of Antarctica and didn?t know what immense power the continent held.
We didn?t see the infamous and deadly side of Drake?s Passage on our way to the continent. The Passage did live up to its reputation as we sailed home. The sea was grey and calm our first morning in Antarctica. Your one-stop resource on antarctica cruise adventures is waiting for you.
We didn?t see the ice until after we?d see tall, hazy grey-brown mountains in the distance. Little ice chunks bobbed like crystallized marshmallows near the boat. I grabbed my camera and zipped right up into my red expedition parka – standard issue for all of us passengers – and rushed out into the brisk Antarctic day.
The sky was low and the sea was just as gray as the sky. We spent part of our day outside, looking for whales or dolphins, or even penguins. The rest we spent inside, listening to lectures by the ship’s naturalists. Passing by the huge ice blocks in our tiny inflatable raft was truly thrilling. We were finally on our way to shore. Not only could we see the rocky shoreline finally, but we saw several penguins at the water?s edge, seemingly considering whether to go for a swim or not.
At the very minimum we had penguins all around us.Itty bitty little gentoo penguins were kind enough to share their little island in Paradise harbor with a group of researchers like us!Waddling about, they look like they are in a hurrying to accomplish a million things. Some of them stood on rocks and observed us smiling and pointing at the, occasionally snapping a photo or two. Soon they went about the business of their day. The baby penguins were left alone by their parents and had to fend for themselves. Some of these “kids” were still living in denial of this situation. At this point in their lives they are usually provided with a down covered sack of krill – food that their parents catch and then regurgitate into their chick’s mouth until they are old enough to hunt on their own. Further resources about adventure antarctica cruises are located there.
These youngsters are also going through various stages of molting. Most of the babies had cleaned up their coats, and were sporting the smooth, patterned feathers of their parents, but some still had a few clumps of fluffy gray down stuck to random parts of their body – like the tops of their heads, making them look like they were wearing fluffy hats. As we returned to our ship, we navigated around ice drifting in the bay. One small berg sported a regal seal, stretched out in the sun. Maybe he was commenting on how boring we were when he gave us a giant yawn.
Right away, the penguins turned on their cute factor. I think that their gawkiness is what makes them so appealing. Or maybe it’s the way their black and white tuxedos clash so terribly with their bright orange, webbed feet. There was far less soil than rock on the island, so the penguins were cleaner. They looked a bit like jaunty chipmunks because of the thin black line under their chins.