After a late night on the evening before on deck, the alarm woke me just after 04:30. I was soon headed up to the lounge for the first hot drink of the day & some biscuits for the early breakfast. I was on deck around 05:00, but it was well after first light.
Looking across the bay in the early morning light
Scanning around the full bay, I quickly picked up some very distant Cetaceans in the bay. Checking the photos, they were a pod of eight Orca and presumably were more Type B (Small) Orca. Their pale saddles are noticeable in the photos. Another species for the self-found Cetacean List.
A distant view across the bay near Devil Island: There is a Cetacean breaking the surface
Orca Type B (Small): A harsher crop confirm it is an Orca. Presumably, an Orca Type B (Small) as the pale grey saddle is obvious
A distant view across the another part of the bay: There are more Orca in this direction
Orca Type B (Small): A harsher crop confirm these are also Orca. In total, I saw eight individuals in the pod
We were due to land on Devil island in the morning. Devil Island is an ice-free island about 2 kilometres long, in the Northern end of the James Ross Island group, which lie near the North East tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. It appears to have horns at each end of the island, which is how it got its name. The island is home to about fifteen thousand pairs of Adelie Penguins.
Cleaning the boots every time we got on & off the Plancius was very important
Marieke, the ship's doc, organising the zodiac loading
One of the Devil Island horns
There were lots of young Adelie Penguins close to the beach.
Adelie Penguin: These youngsters were well-behaved while asking to be fed
Adelie Penguin: Two very hungry youngsters
Adelie Penguin: These two youngsters were getting some exercise
Here is a nice bit of video of a youngster greeting an adult for food. Suggest you turn the sound up.
Adelie Penguin: I don't think that's the youngster's parent
Here is a nice bit of video of two youngsters wanting to be fed.
Adelie Penguin: Given the differences in ages, I wonder if the younger individual is the offspring of another pair & just hoping to get fed
Adelie Penguin: That looks like a large youngster in the background
Adelie Penguin: Heading back to the sea
Adelie Penguin: A view over part of the colony
Adelie Penguin: A creche of youngsters
There were about ten Skuas around the beach, but most weren't close. I only managed to get a couple of close individuals in flight.
Brown Skua: Note, the bulky shape, capped appearance, strong wing flashes on broad-based, short wings and the short bill
South Polar Skua: Note, the pale head, even paler collar, less obvious wing flashes, the longer and thinner-winged wings, as well as, the less bulky appearance compared to the Brown Skua
The Plancius sitting out in the bay
It was good to see the crew launch a lifeboat for a practice drill while we were ashore: Practicing these safety drills is so important when you are this far from civilisation. They would have had good views of the Ice Swan close to the lifeboat
A panoramic view of the island
When I got back to the beach, I took the opportunity to photograph this Adelie Penguin emerging from the sea.
The less glamourous part of being a member of the Expedition staff: Esther cleaning passenger's boots before they got back in the zodiac
When we were in the zodiacs, we found we were going on a forty-five minute cruise around the bay, before returning to the Plancius. The iceberg shapes made for some nice photos.
One of the first zodiacs heading out on the zodiac cruise
This iceberg look to have a sci-fi monster's head carved in it
This was an impressive iceberg
Glacial ice absorbs red light frequencies and transmits the bluer frequencies, which is why ice can look blue
Adelie Penguin: This photo just needed the Adelie Penguin to give it some scale
The icebergs were big enough to almost hide the Plancius
A sleeping Leopard Seal was the wildlife highlight. I had seen it from the land, but it was good to see it sleeping close up.
Leopard Seal: The size, bulk, colouration and grinning appearance all confirm the identification
Adelie Penguin: This Adelie Penguin has found an iceberg to get out of the sea. A wise move with Leopard Seals in the seas
When we were back on the Plancius, she lifted the anchor and headed South to our final Antarctic afternoon. The plan was to cruise South, before stopping for a zodiac cruise.
