30 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Heading North In The Drake Passage

We were nearly a day into the Drake Passage and the seas hadn't moderated. However, the skies were relatively bright and the sea-sickness patches were still working well. But with the bouncy conditions, there were still a number of passengers who we hadn't seen for a day and weren't going to see again until we reached the calm waters of the Beagle Channel on the following afternoon. But, a number of other more hardy passengers joining us for extended periods on the bridge wings to try and get that perfect waves breaking over the ship photo.

Spray breaking over the ship: This is one of the better photos I saw, but it is only spray and not waves. I think my cabin mate Bill took this photo

Albatrosses and Northern Giant Petrels provided the close Avian highlights of the day, albeit we did see a reasonable selection of other Petrels and Storm-petrels.

Wandering Albatross: Immature

Southern Royal Albatross: This is an immature & I think it's a 1st year individual. Adult Southern Royal Albatrosses have a white band on the inner secondary coverts which narrows as it reaches the bend in the wing: this area remains black in Northern Royal Albatrosses

Southern Royal Albatross: The same individual

Black-browed Albatross

Black-browed Albatross: A different individual

Northern Giant Petrel: This individual spent some time just flying alongside and quite close to the Plancius. This is something we often saw with the Albatrosses and Giant Petrels. I assume that they can save effort from being in the slipstream or perhaps they are just sheltering from the wind when they are on the correct side of the ship

Northern Giant Petrel: The same individual

Northern Giant Petrel: The same individual

Northern Giant Petrel: The same individual

We saw a few ships heading to Antarctica. They were bigger, more luxurious and probably more stable for their passengers in these seas. However, they wouldn't have offered the same extended landings or some of the interesting landings that a smaller ship like the Plancius can offer. Due to their extra size, they would have had more than one hundred passengers, which is the limit of passengers allowed on South Georgia and Antarctica at one time. This means that their passengers could only have landed for part of the landing window. But some of the ships in Antarctica offer the opportunity to experience the continent without the 'hassle' of landings. Personally, that would be a massive reason not to travel on ships like that. But if it means that type of passenger avoids the Oceanwide Expedition ships, then that is good in my eyes.

The Aurora Expeditions ship Greg Mortimer heading to Antarctica

In the early afternoon, a couple of Hourglass Dolphins tried to come in to bow-wave. However, they weren't close enough or fast enough to be catch us up to play in the bow wave. They may have reached the stern as I've seen Hourglass Dolphins tagging along in the wake before.

Hourglass Dolphin: I had good views to identify these Hourglass Dolphins before I tried to get some photos. But every time they broke the surface, they were quickly back below the water before I could get a photo. But it's possible to see the large white patch of the side of the front half of the body which tapes to virtually nothing before broadening after the dorsal fin

Hourglass Dolphin: Another view showing how difficult it is to see the exact shape of coloured patches when the subject is underwater

My clear highlight of crossing the Drake Passage occurred around mid-afternoon. For a change I switched sides to the port bridge wing. I had only been there about twenty minutes when I picked up two large chunky Dolphins coming towards me. They were keeping just below the crests of the waves and had a very distinctive black upperside with more black at the front of the body and less at the rear and a contrasting white underside. There were larger and bulkier-bodied compared to any of the other Dolphins I had seen on the trip. When I thought back to the sighting immediately afterwards I realised I hadn't seen a dorsal fin on them. It was useful to have seen the Hourglass Dolphins less than an hour before, as that really helped to emphasise how large and bulky they were. It confused me as it wasn't a species I recognised. But when I checked the books it all became clear that these were my first two Southern Right Whale Dolphins. I watched them for a while and had a good view, before I tried to get some photos. Frustratingly, I failed to get any photos. The lack of a dorsal fin and the ying and yang shape of black and white markings ruled out a Spectacled Porpoise, which has a more uniform-width black upper body and white underbody and a large semi-circular dorsal fin.

Northern Giant Petrel: A final individual which appeared during the late afternoon

We still had one more day in the Drake Passage until we reached the Tierra del Fuego coast and the Beagle Channel. I will cover that in the next Blog Post.

26 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Macaroni's On The Menu

The last Blog Post, focused on our early morning visit to Point Wild, on the Northern side of Elephant Island. This was the stoney beach where Shackleton's crew spent four and a half months before Shackleton was able to rescue them. Sadly, the seas were too rough and foggy to be able to safely launch the zodiacs. So, the Expedition Leader Ali & the skipper proposed checking out Cape Lookout on the Southern coastline. It was a thirty-five mile distance at sea, but the weather improved as soon as we cleared Cape Valentine, in the North East corner of the island.

The weather was totally different on the South side of Elephant Island

Antarctic Tern: This is the gaini subspecies which breeds around the South Shetland Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula & neighbouring islands

Antarctic Tern: They are superficially similar to Arctic Terns, but any Arctic Terns would be in their Winter plumage at this time of year. They are really good looking, if you get the exposure correct

The seas around Elephant Island are clearly good for Whales. Around the coastline we saw five Fin Whales, another two Fin or Sei Whales, another four large Whales, ten Humpback Whales, my first Antarctic Minke Whale and about twenty sets of blows where we didn't see the Whale. There was also a pod of three Hourglass Dolphins.

Fin Whale: A blowing Fin Whale

Fin Whale: I managed to get a photo of the dorsal fin to confirm the identification. Some of the other confirmed Fin Whales were based upon photos that some of the other Birders managed to take, but I failed to get anything

We passed this impressive glacier

We carried on cruising along the coast, until we reached a Chinstrap Penguin colony at Cape Lookout: on the Southern-most point of Elephant Island. Fortunately, the sea conditions were good enough to launch the zodiacs. A recent Greenpeace study has suggested the population of Chinstrap Penguins on Elephant Island has declined from the one hundred and twenty thousand pairs at the start of the 1970s to just over fifty thousand pairs. Climate change is considered to be the cause of this decline.

The Chinstrap Penguins were scattered across the hillside

Chinstrap Penguin: A closer photo of part of the main colony

Finally, the sea conditions were good enough to launch the zodiacs

This photo was circulating widely the following morning: Sadly, I didn't see this Chinstrap Penguin who popped up on a zodiac to check out the passengers, which included one of my cabin mates, Steve Preddy, who is sitting on the far right. Amusingly, none of the passengers on the zodiac was aware of this visitor

Chinstrap Penguin: There few a few breeding closer to the beach, along with a couple of Macaroni Penguins at the top

Chinstrap Penguin

Chinstrap Penguin

Chinstrap Penguin: I guess nesting closer to the beach is cleaner, until you get a Southern storm hitting the coastline

Chinstrap Penguin: Some were in need of a bath by the time they had hopped up & down through some of the muddy, guano-filled gullies

More interesting was there was a smaller colony of Macaroni Penguins in some of the gullies. We had seen a few when we were at Cooper Island. But we hadn't managed to get into the zodiacs there due to the sea conditions. So, these were the first Macaroni Penguins that many of the non-Birders on the Plancius would have seen.

Macaroni Penguin: There were small groups of Macaroni Penguins breeding on the lower parts of the coast

Macaroni Penguin: It looks like is been a successful breeding season

Macaroni Penguin: This monotypic species breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula, the Falklands, South Georgia, Kerguelen & Heard Islands

Macaroni Penguin: There are a few other similar-looking Penguins around the World: Fiordland Penguin, Erect-crested Penguin, Royal Penguin, Southern Rockhopper Penguin, Tristan Penguin and Snare's Penguin. They are separated geographically, but they can also be identified by the size and shape of the ear crests

By late morning, everybody was back onboard and we were heading South to the Antarctic Peninsula. But we still had another one hundred and fifty miles before we reached the Antarctic Peninsula. We weren't going to see Antarctic until we got up around dawn on the following morning.

A final view of Elephant Island as we were heading South to the Antarctic Peninsula

There were still a reasonable selection of Seabirds as we departed from Elephant Island.

Grey-headed Albatross: Adult

Grey-headed Albatross: Adult

Grey-headed Albatross: Adult

Grey-headed Albatross: 1st Year. They have a darker head pattern than immature Shy Albatrosses and the dark bill confirms it is a Grey-headed Albatross. Shy Albatrosses would have a pale bill

Southern Royal Albatross: Adult. This is a Southern Royal Albatross. Its breeding grounds are in the New Zealand Subantarctic Campbell and Auckland Islands. The dark gap line and the all-white tail eliminates it from one of the Wandering Albatrosses. The white forewing confirms the age

Antarctic Fulmar: I saw sixteen as we sailed South from Elephant Island

It was going to be an early start on the following morning as we would at the Antarctic Peninsula and the chance to see my first Adelie Penguins. However, all eyes were needed in the hope of an outside chance of an Emperor Penguin, albeit we wouldn't get closer than about sixty miles to the nearest colony.

17 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Leaving Port Stanley, Falklands

It was time to leave Port Stanley. Personally, I would have liked a full day around the area. But the distances meant if we left at lunchtime, we would be able to enjoy two landings on the first day in South Georgia, whereas, a full day in the Falklands, would mean losing a landing in South Georgia. It's always a compromise in planning landings in the Southern Oceans, before the ship has to plan for any adverse weather. Another factor is the landings need to be booked months in advance with the South Georgia authorities to ensure that there wouldn't be two expedition ships looking to land passengers at the same location on the same day. Only one hundred passengers are allowed to be ashore at any time, which was fine as that allowed all our passengers to land together. But some of the larger ships have twice that number of passengers and their landings have to be staggered and shortened. The logistics of having two ships at the same location would be far more complex to manage and most importantly there would be a bigger impact on the wildlife.

One of the outer bays in the channel leading to Port Stanley: I was scanning all the bays and beaches as we left Port Stanley, in the hope of a Commerson's Dolphin. One of the Peale’s Dolphins is just visible in front of the beach

As we sailed out of the bay leading to Port Stanley, I picked up a pod of distant Dolphins. They were near to the beach (in the previous photo) and they clearly did not want to come & check out us. Initially, all we could see were they had prominent dorsal fins. There are several potential Dolphin species in the Falklands: Risso's Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin, Dusky Dolphin, Hourglass Dolphin, Peale's Dolphin, Southern Rightwhale Dolphin and Commerson's Dolphin. The first two species are right on the edge of their extensive world range.

Peale's Dolphin: All it is possible to say on this view is it is either a Dusky Dolphin or a Peale's Dolphin

Very quickly most of these species can be eliminated. The colouration and shape rules out a Risso's Dolphin. The lack of a distinctive beak and the patterning rules out Bottlenose Dolphin. Hourglass Dolphin can be ruled out as these Dolphins don't have the well-marked patterning on the sides of the body. Southern Rightwhale Dolphin is a very distinctive black and white marked species and it doesn't have a dorsal fin. Finally, Commerson's Dolphin has a very broad-rounded dorsal fin & looks more like a Porpoise, than a classical Dolphin. This just leaves Dusky Dolphin or Peale's Dolphin as the only likely species.

Peale's Dolphin: The dorsal fin shape looks different as it starts to go under

Peale's Dolphin: Further into the dive

Peale's Dolphin: Another individual came up at the left hand side of my view through the camera. It seems to have a pale stripe behind the dorsal fin

Finally, one of the Peale's Dolphins jumped out of the water and it was possible to see the dark facial pattern which confirmed this was a Peale's Dolphin.

Peale's Dolphin: The dark facial pattern, pale sides to the body and lack of a pronounced beak rules out the other candidates

Dusky Dolphin: One of the Dusky Dolphins from the first evening in the Beagle Channel which shows the short beak, but the pale stripes that continue through the face (14 Jan 23)

We didn't see any other species of note until we reached the open sea. Here we were greeted some large feeding flocks of Sooty Shearwaters.

Sooty Shearwater: A large feeding flock of Sooty Shearwaters

Sooty Shearwater: Another party of Sooty Shearwaters on the sea just before we reached them

Sooty Shearwater: About one hundred thousand pairs of Sooty Shearwaters breed on the nearby Kidney Island. They also breed on the temperate & Subantarctic Islands from South Chile & the Falklands to South Australia & Tasmania, Macquarie & the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands

The numbers of Seabirds quickly dropped off as we left the coastal parts of the Falklands, but we stuck it out on deck anyway.

Southern Royal Albatross: Southern Royal Albatrosses can be separated from the similar looking Northern Royal Albatross by the narrow white leading edge to the wings

Southern Royal Albatross: A second individual. This is the nominate epomophora subspecies of Royal Albatross according to Clements. The other subspecies is Northern Royal Albatross which IOC split and is another future armchair Tick when I switch to IOC taxonomy

Southern Royal Albatross: A third individual. This is an immature & I think it's a 1st year individual. Adult Southern Royal Albatrosses have a white band on the inner secondary coverts which narrows as it reaches the bend in the wing: this area remains black in Northern Royal Albatrosses

Southern Royal Albatross: The third individual. Southern Royal Albatrosses breed on the Campbell & Auckland islands and Northern Royal Albatross breed on Chatham Islands & New Zealand's South Island. Both Royal Albatrosses range throughout the Southern Oceans

Snowy Wandering Albatross: This is a Snowy Wandering Albatross and it is the nominate exulans subspecies which breeds on South Georgia. Clements lumps all the Wandering Albatross subspecies, whereas, IOC splits Wandering Albatross as Snowy Wandering Albatross, Antipodes Wandering Albatross, Tristan Wandering Albatross & Amsterdam Wandering Albatross. This is a third cycle which I think corresponds to second (Southern) summer based up the more commonly used UK moult terminology

Soft-plumaged Petrel: We saw the first Soft-plumaged Petrel of the trip & one of my favourite Pterodroma Petrels

Soft-plumaged Petrel: This monotypic species breeds on the subtropical to subantarctic islands including Tristan da Cunha & Gough Islands, Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen & Amsterdam islands in the South Indian Ocean, to Maatsuyker Island, to the South of Tasmania and Macquarie & the Antipodes Islands to the South of New Zealand

We would have two more full days at sea before we reached South Georgia.