After dropping my bags with Oceanwide Expeditions and walking around the Urban Reserve on the waterfront, I headed for the port area. The walk takes you past the Saint Christopher. It is a good place to look for Flightless Steamerduck: I've seen it there on two of my three visits to Ushuaia in recent years.
As I walked past the Saint Christopher, there was a pair of Flightless Steamerducks feeding in front of the boat. Note, the paler head of the male, the heavier orange bill and shorter wings, compared to the Flying Steamerducks (in the last Blog Post).
Some of the local Gulls for the Seagull fans.
After another short walk, I arrived at the port area. I knew we wouldn't be allowed onboard Ortelius for at least another ninety minutes. However, getting there early would mean I would get a seat in the small waiting area. Plus, I would be in the perfect position to be able to board quickly, once we were allowed in. Being in a four berth cabin, it's first come, first choice of bunks. I wanted a lower bunk to allow me to get up quickly and quietly, so I could get on deck for some early morning watches.
One of the key meetings at the start of the cruise was to meet Pippa, the Expedition Leader, and the rest of the Expedition staff.
After introducing the Expedition team, Pippa went onto provide some details on the likely route. The original plan was to sail South in the Weddell Sea until we were close to the Emperor Penguin colony on Snow Hill Island. However, there had been exceptional amounts of sea ice in the Weddell Sea this season and it didn't seem likely that we would be able to get close enough to Snow Hill. When travelling to extreme locations on expedition ships, I've learnt the weather doesn't always allow the original plan to be achieved.
I had bumped into a couple of Expedition staff from one of the other ships in the Urban Reserve and they had said only one ship had managed to make it to Snow Hill about a month earlier. Pippa confirmed that the first two trips on Ortelius hadn't been able to get far South in the Weddell Sea. She did mention that the latest weather forecasts, suggested the ice could move and open a window for us to get closer to Snow Hill Island by the time we reached the Weddell Sea. However, that forecast could and did change into one that wasn't going to allow us to head even as far South as I reached in Jan 23.
Despite the news about the sea ice, I was still travelling to Antarctica early enough in the Summer season to have a reasonable chance of seeing Emperor Penguins on the sea ice. We would have four days in Antarctica to look, which is a lot longer than most Antarctica trips. It was Oceanwide's key reason for this trip and the route. We knew that the bridge crew would be keeping a close eye out for Emperor Penguins when we reached the Weddell Sea, even if I, some of the keener passengers and the Expedition staff weren't looking due to meal times, the long days etc.
First we had to get down the Beagle Channel. Finally, about 18:30 all the mandatory meetings were over and I went up to the top deck, rather head down for the first evening meal. It wasn't going to be dark until about 21:30. Having seen the pod of Commerson's Dolphins the day before, I was keen to have another look for them. I scanned hard, but the calm conditions of the morning had changed to more typically choppy weather. This made looking for an unobtrusive Commerson's Dolphin harder, if they were still around. I didn't have any joy. However, I did well for Whales after we had passed Martillo Island: with three Humpback Whales, followed by two Sei Whales and finally a Fin Whale. There was also repeats of all the Seabird species I had seen the day before on the Martillo Island trip.
At least a half hour after we passed Martillo Island, the pilot left Ortelius. Once he had departed, the bridge and the bridge wings were opened to the passengers. I switched to the starboard bridge wing and as dinner was over, I was joined by one of the Expedition team, Jess. Jess used to work for ORCA as a seasonal live-aboard surveyor on one of the UK ferries. She had a good Cetacean background and was very familiar with the surveying I do for this excellent charity. She had missed the first two groups of Whales, but arrived in time to see the Fin Whale. We also had brief sightings of the only Dolphin in the Beagle Channel that evening. It didn't give long views as it raced into to play in the wake of the bow. However, we saw enough to be sure it was either a Dusky Dolphin or a Peale's Dolphin: with the former species being the commoner Dolphin, from my experience in the Beagle Channel.
About thirty minutes the light was going and it was time to head below and socialise with some of the passengers I had met when we first came on board. Then it was time to turn it as I had set my alarm for an early start.