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| Antarctic Shag |
As we left Brown Bluff Antarctic Shags were flying to and from their cliff face colonies. We also came across a huge ice berg when looked at with some imagination took the form of a Scotty Dog lying down. For the rest of the day this berg seemed to be insight.
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Scotty Dog
As we entered the ice flows Wilson's Petrels were flying quite close to the bow of the ship enabling me to get some pleasing shots.
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| Wilson's Petrel |
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| Wilson's Petrel |
Crabeater Seals and the odd Weddell Seal were sun bathing on the ice flows.
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| Crabeater Seal |
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| Ice flows in the Weddell Sea |
Several Snow Petrels ghosted up to the ship and past just as quickly. Most the time there was only 8 passengers at most including our group of 4 out of 107 watching out for birds and cetaceans.
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| Candidate for one the most beautiful birds in the world |
We were sea (Ice) watching from the front of deck 3 when Mike called Orca! As the bridge relayed the news over the PA we were joined by all the other passengers. The captain then very carefully manoeuvred the ship as close as he could to the pod and superb views were had by all as we watched them for the best part of an hour.
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| Looking out for seals |
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| Spy Hopping |
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| This young Orca swam down the side of the ship eyeing us up |
A while after the excitement of the Orca's as most the passengers had drifted back to the lounge Mike quietly said Duck or something like that as both he and David shouted Emperor Penguin. It was about a mile in front of us on an ice flow. Once again the bridge relayed the news and we joined by the rest of the passengers. As we got nearer to the bird we could see that it was spanking full adult, which is unheard of as only 1 juvenile has ever been seen on these cruises before. Adults are usually only seen on the breeding grounds in the heart of the continent. The captain once again did a fantastic job of steering the ship through the ice to slowly sidle up beside the Penguin even making sure the light was perfect for photography. Shortly after we spotted 2 more further away on ice flows.
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| Emperor Penguin |
What a stunning way to end our first day in the Weddell Sea.
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