I know I promised to write about the apparatus that we use for collecting water samples, but I decided to write about another topic today, given the questions that I have been receiving through the 'Ask the Team' tab. I am excited that so many of you have contacted me!
One of the questions that keeps popping up is, 'What animals have you seen?', 'Have you touched a penguin, and how do they feel?' I think I need to just put all my animal pictures here and tell you how and when I saw them. We will talk about the Rosette another time. You have met most of these animals in other journal entries; I know I am cheating a little bit…
The first animals that I saw were Emperor Penguins. Newly arrived, we were driving from the airstrip to the station when we saw three Emperors as a welcoming committee to Antarctica. This is Jim Swift's picture. I was on a Delta with the glasses frosted by our frozen condensation. At one point I wiped the window with my hand to see the exterior and there they were. I am glad Jim was able to get a picture.
Emperor penguins on the side of the road.
In our first briefing at the station they asked us to not feed the skuas. They said we should be careful with our food when outside because the skuas would snatch it from us. I had no idea what skuas were, but once I saw one I knew I was in front of one. We were on a hike when a couple of skuas went flying. I thought seagulls, but no, skuas. Apparently they have the same habits of stealing people's food as the seagulls. There are different types of skuas, this one is a South Polar Skua
Skua flying above us
A skua looking for our lunch
The animals that we kept seeing all the time, but far away, were the seals. Always laying on the ice; tons of them. I wished we could walk on the ice and get closer. As I said on another journal, we were asked not to get close to the animals. That if the animal responded to our presence, that meant we were too close.
Seals lying around an ice crack
This is as close as I was able to get to the seals.
seal
But on one windless night, I saw from the station's library the formation of new ice on the surface of the water down not he bay. I decided to check the process from a nearby position. It was around midnight; the sun was still above the horizon when I reached the shoreline, mesmerized by the ice crystals, one step from dipping my toes in the cold water. I was about to take a picture when all of the sudden a snoring sound startled me. I looked down and there she was, a beautiful seal playing in the beach.
Almost stepped on the seal
Good thing there are no snakes around here. The next animal I saw were the lovely Adélie penguins. One morning around Hut Point we spotted this waddling penguin on the ice.
Adélie penguin waddling on the ice
Asélie penguin on the ice
Then a couple of penguins showed at the port as we were loading the boat. They remained around the same spot for the couple of say we were there. You have seen them in other pictures in another blog.
Two penguins near the boat. One of them is molting
They decided to come closer and check us out; two of the bright red hooded specimens that abound on that area, but are hard to find elsewhere in the continent.
Adélie Penguin
Adélie molting. Look at the few baby feathers still hanging on.
Another view of the molting penguin
I was enjoying our last hours of being on the continent on the last day when I came across three penguins near the shore. One of them is resting on his belly.
Three penguins. THe one on the left is resting on his belly
It got up and decided it was time for a clean up.
Sequence of a penguin cleaning itself
A last penguin picture of the series.
Adélie on the snow
And on the day we left from McMurdo Station, three distant orcas and a no less distant Minke.
An orca pod at the distance
Minke whale
I hope we will see more wildlife in the weeks ahead. So, no, I have not touched penguin and they did not bite when they were close to us.
And by the way, no sampling to day as we encountered a sluggish storm. We are sailing at 5 knots going nowhere around our station waiting for the waters to calm down and resume collecting samples. We might have to wait for another half day more.