DRAFT: All the things

gentoo penguins at mikkelson harbor at the south end of trinity island (2/4)

• Gentoo’s had stone nests
• the chicks were late in the season and they might not survive to adulthood
• the penguins were going in and out of the wake which was cool to watch
• we couldn’t land on the beech due to the penguins so we had to ram the zodiac up on a large rock and jump off the front
• the ground was covered in mud, poop, and regurgitated fish
• Whale bones and whaling boats on the beech
• watching the chicks sit beneath their moms
• the smell of the island stayed on our coats
• we had to triple-wash our pants and boats when were back on the boat
• there were a couple of Weddell seals
• the landscape behind the island, with the glacier and the mountain’s stuff
• as I was boarding the zodiac I ran into Massimo and he mentioned that I still haven’t been on the continent because we were on an island
• I was so excited to get more door photos from the land of Antarctica

killer whale (2/4)

• at first, everyone’s autofocus on their cameras wasn’t working due to the lack of contrast and the smooth sea
• maternal led
• male and females have different sizes and shape of dorsal fins, males are bigger and more straight
• we are seeing the same group of photographers on the 5/6th floor observation deck at every whale siting
• passing Katies binoculars around to let people see them
• the killer whales had a reddish hue due to ????

spinning in the ice field (2/4)

• due to the killer whale sitting we didn’t have time for the zodiac cruise
• bud made an audible and we sailed the entire ship into the ice field
• we were able to get much closer to the large ice burgs in our ship. because they have a chance to roll which would be unsafe in the zodiac we spent some time in the hot tub with the sugarmans and the redhead girl
• we rushed out so we could make it to the talk
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

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cooks nook dinner & hump backs (2/4)

• saw killer whales at the end of the debrief
  • the wife of the man that is Scott’s competitor spotted them
  • they were circling an iceberg with penguins on it
  • the captain was there and said we will only stop for really good sitings (jokingly)
  • I ran down and grabbed the camera and took a 1 min video from our balcony
  • was late to dinner
• during the second course, I noticed a humpback and ran outside to grab some pictures
• right before our main bud came on the horn and announced humpbacks
  • they were everywhere
  • 3 groups, one of 6 and two of two
  • it was so hard to know where to pay attention to as the blows and whale whales (the animal and the sounds) were coming from every here
  • I stayed outside without a coat until my fingers were ready to fall off