28 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Devil Island, Antarctica

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

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

Adelie Penguin: These youngsters were well-behaved while asking to be fed

Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguin

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

Adelie Penguin

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.

Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguin

Antarctic Fur Seal

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

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.

27 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Orca Type B (Small)

After leaving Paulet Island we set off on the forty mile trip to Brown Buff, which is a beach on the Antarctic mainland. I had a quick lunch before heading back up to the port bridge wing to look for Cetaceans and Emperor Penguins. There were plenty of ice floes with Adelie Penguins sitting on them, but not unexpectedly, no Emperor Penguins.

There were plenty of scattered ice floes

The ice floes come in all sorts of sizes and shapes: This was one of the more interesting shapes

Fin Whale: This Fin Whale popped up close to the Plancius. It is clearly a large Whale, but without seeing the dorsal fin, then the identification isn't possible to determine from this photo

Fin Whale: Once it showed its noticeable and smooth-curved leading edge on the dorsal fin, it was clear it was a Fin Whale

I noticed the Expedition Leader Ali was inside the bridge. I popped my head inside to check if she had seen the Fin Whale. She was watching some more distant Fin Whales, about a mile or two further away, along with a pod of Orca. She asked the bridge crew to turn to port and to slowly approach the Orca, while she put out a message on the Tannoy about the Orca. Despite only being relatively close, it took a good fifteen to twenty minutes to reach the Orca, as the Plancius slowed down for a very gentle approach. One of the great things about the Plancius is she is an ex-Dutch Navy submarine hunter and research ship. As a result, she is a very quiet ship in the water and the bridge crew are very capable of approaching Cetaceans slowly without spooking or disturbing them.

An obvious ex-volcanic island and other islands off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula: The Orca pod were out there somewhere

Orca Type B (Small): An early view of one of the adult Orca, taken in case the pod moved on. Note, the very high dorsal fin and the pale grey cape

Orca Type B (Small): A group of three Orca of varying ages and/or sexes based upon the relative sizes of the dorsal fins

Fin Whale & Orca Type B (Small): One of three Orcas approaching a Fin Whale

Fin Whales & Orca Type B (Small): There were two Fin Whales

Three Orca surface close to one of the Fin Whales

Fin Whale: A close up of its head

One of the Fin Whale resurfaced which allowed its identification to be confirmed.

Fin Whale: One of the Fin Whales resurfaced. Note, the smooth leading edge to the dorsal fin

Fin Whale: The same Fin Whale a few photos later. Note, the smooth leading edge to the dorsal fin, but due to its posture in the water, it appears to be a taller fin in this photo. The field guides that state Sei Whales have a thinner and taller dorsal fin, compared to a Fin Whale are misleading, if they don't say that the fin height should be compared when it's possible to see a lot of the body ahead of the dorsal fin. The key feature is Sei Whales have a distinctive kink on the leading edge of their dorsal fin

As we got closer I checked my photos and improved the exposure settings so they weren't over-exposed.

Orca Type B (Small): They were grey-and-white Orca with a large horizontal eye patch and a pale saddle

Orca Type B (Small): There were at least twenty individuals in this extended pod

Orca Type B (Small): This Orca Type is also known as Gerlache Orca after the Gerlache Strait on the Western side of the Antarctic Peninsula

Orca Type B (Small): This individual with a bent dorsal fin, came close to the Plancius after we had stopped moving

Orca Type B (Small): Another view of the same individual showing the large eyepatch

Orca Type B (Small): Another view of the same individual

Orca Type B (Small): A clearer view of the saddle of the same individual

Orca Type B (Small): The right hand individual has a distinctively-kinked dorsal fin

Orca Type B (Small): A large youngster pops up behind a larger individual

Orca Type B (Small): Youngsters tend to be yellower than the adults. When the Orca head to the Tropics the diatoms disappear from their bodies and they return South looking more of a typical black-and-white colouration, until the diatoms build up again

Orca Type B (Small): The youngster has a smaller dorsal fin and has yet to develop a well-defined saddle

Orca Type B (Small): They are clearly identifiable when under the water

Orca Type B (Small): Another large youngster popped up next to a submerged adult

Orca Type B (Small): Males will start to breed at the age of about fifteen and Females from ten to fifteen years old. Females will go through the menopause around forty, but can still live to eighth or ninety. These matriarchs will lead and teach the rest of the pod for the rest of their lives. The oldest Orca was a Pacific Orca who was thought to be at least one hundred and five years old when she died around 2005

Orca Type B (Small)

After we departed, I asked Ali if the Orca could have been following the Fin Whales because there was a calf there: not that I had seen a calf surface. Ali said there weren't interested in the Fin Whales and introduced me to the complexity of Orca taxonomy. At the time, there was thought to be one species of Orca. However, there are a number of very distinct and in some cases, well studied populations of Orca. These were Type B (Small) Orca which are also called Gerlache Orca. They are believed to feed on fish, squid and the occasional Penguin. The likelihood was there were lots of Fish in the area, which had attracted the Orca and Fin Whales.

Orca ID Chart: There was this useful Orca ID chart on the lounge wall. I didn't photograph it, but a copy can be found here. I'm not sure which of the passengers took this photo of me updating the list of species seen on the trip

The excellent Marine Mammals of the World Ed 2 states "the taxonomy of this genus is clearly in need of revision, and it is very likely that the Orca species will be split into several species and/or subspecies over the next few years. Provisionally, the Marine Mammalogy recognises Resident and Transient (Bigg's) Orcas as unnamed subspecies". It describes some of the more distinct populations as:

Antarctic Forms

• Type A Orca - They are a large black-and-white Orca with a medium-sized eyepatch orientated parallel to the body axis and normally without a cape. They are a circumpolar Type and occur in ice-free Antarctic waters areas, where they mainly prey on Antarctic Minke Whales. They migrates to lower latitudes and appears to spent more time there than Types B and C

• Type B Large (Pack Ice) Orca - They are a large two tone grey-and-white Orca with a dark grey dorsal cape and pale grey sides. Individuals acquire a coat of diatoms (algae) in Antarctic waters giving them a dull yellowish wash. The eyepatch is very large and orientated parallel to the body axis. They appear to have a circumpolar distribution in Antarctic waters. They feed mainly on Seals that are often found around dense pack ice. The BBC have filmed this Type in the Antarctic Peninsula spy-hopping to search ice floes for resting Seals, then working together to create waves which knock the Seals off the ice floes. They undertakes rapid round trips to the Tropics, but appears to spend most of its time in Antarctic waters

• Type B Small (Gerlache) Orca - This Type are about one metre smaller than the Pack Ice Orca and perhaps weigh only half the weight. They are a two tone grey-and-white Orca with a dark grey dorsal cape and have a large eyepatch which is orientated parallel to the body axis. Individuals in Antarctic waters can acquire a coat of diatoms (algae) giving them a dull yellowish wash. They are a deep diver and are most often seen foraging in relatively ice-free waters where it appears to feed on fish, squid and the occasional Penguin. They undertakes rapid round trips to the Tropics, but appears to spend most of its time in Antarctic waters

• Type C (Ross Sea) Orca - This is a dwarf Type of Orca about one to three metres smaller than the large Types of Orca. They are a two tone grey-and-white Orca with a distinct cape and a narrow slanting eyepatch which is orientated about 45 degrees to the body axis. Individuals in Antarctic waters can acquire a coat of diatoms (algae) giving them a dull yellowish wash. They are currently only known from Eastern Antarctica, where they hunt fish along the fast ice edge and deep into the leads. They undertakes rapid round trips to the Tropics, but appears to spend most of their time in Antarctic waters

• Type D Orca - This newly recognised Type is a black-and-white Orca with a tiny eyepatch which is orientated parallel to the body axis. The melon appears more bulbous than in other Types and the dorsal fin may be more falcate and pointed. They have a circumpolar distribution in Antarctic waters, but are perhaps restricted to Subantarctic waters.

North Atlantic Forms

• Type 1 Orca - They are a small black-and-white Type of Orca, with a parallel eyepatch which feeds on schooling fish (Herring & Mackerel)

• Type 2 Orca - They are a large black-and-white Type of Orca, with an eyepatch which slants downwards in the rear and which may feed mainly on Cetaceans.

North Pacific Forms

• Resident Orca - They are a medium-sized Orca which often inhabit inland waterways where they feed on Fish (mainly Salmon). They are often found in very small pods of one to twelve Orca, but some pods can be as many as fifty. An important feature is a dark saddle within the otherwise larger pale grey saddle

• Bigg's (Transient) Orca - They are slightly larger than the Resident Orca, with a more pointed dorsal fin. They do not have the a dark saddle within the otherwise larger pale grey saddle. They are often found in very small pods of one to five Orca. They are Mammal-eaters, taking mainly Common Seals, but also Minke Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises, Sea Lions etc

• Offshore Orca - They are the smallest of the North West Orca with a relatively small and more rounded dorsal fin. They are often found in very large pods of fifty to one hundred Orca around the continental shelf edge and thought to regularly feed on Sharks.

It was no surprise that a lot of the passengers appeared on the deck for the Orca shout

Dutch Birder Marco was one of the sharpest observers on the Plancius

Adelie Penguins: With a pod of Orca around, it was safer for the Adelie Penguins to be on an ice flow

Adelie Penguins: Every party of Penguins had to be checked on the off-chance of an Emperor Penguin

Cape Petrels: I saw over two hundred as we travelled between the two sites

After the best part of an hour we had to move on, if we were to get a second landing in at Brown Bluff that afternoon. While it wasn't dark till around ten or eleven that evening, many of the passengers would have wanted their dinner on time and secondly the kitchen staff would already be starting to prepare for dinner.