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| We're so excited to be able to kayak in the Antarctic! |
Wednesday, November 15 - Tay Head, Antarctic Peninsula
This morning, we're anchored here in the Firth of Tay Head at the south end of Joinville Island, at the tip of the Antarctic peninsula. It’s a beautiful, clear, sunny day again. We’ve been so lucky with our weather Today it’s about 30 degrees out. Michael joined me for breakfast - oatmeal, as always, and a delicious iced coffee. We had a mandatory kayak briefing at 9 AM, as today the conditions are perfect for a kayaking excursion They load us into the kayaks from two zodiacs attached to a metal platform in between, upon which the kayaks sit. Pretty slick actually. They use two person inflatable kayaks, and the naturalists Zodiac go out in Zodiacs with the kayakers, watching for any signs of distress. They also gave us an apparatus to wear around our neck that sends off an alarm and GPS signal if it gets wet (if you fall over).
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| Watching from overhead on Deck 8 as they load up the kayaks |
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| Floating platform between two Zodiacs make a slick launching station |
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| One last safety lecture before embarking |
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| Fellow travelers getting into their kayaks with the help of the crew |
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| We're off!! |
Michael and I went down to the base camp loading area and got ready to go kayaking. So excited, as this is one of the things we really wanted to do! We loaded up, me in front, Michael in back, per usual and paddled to the left to a small rock outcropping that was a home for nesting shags. Then we headed right to the series of rocks and a curving rocky beach. It was amazing to see how clear the water is - you could see down for dozens of feet. Lots of white rocks and white crevices between/along the rocks made it even easier to see. Next we paddled over to an Adelie penguin colony and sat near them waiting for them to jump into the water. They lined up on the edge of the snowbank, ready to go in, but I think we might have been too close for their comfort. We followed the beach until we had to turn back toward the ship, as the rocks and reef curved back that direction. We were one of the last three kayaks to come in (but to be fair, one of the last 3 or 4 to go out. Photographer Nathan came by in the Zodiac and there were a few other Zodiacs out in the bay as well. Nathan kindly took a picture of Michael and me in the kayak. I thought of the Zodiac guys like sheep dogs, minding the stray kayakers and bringing them home to corral.
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| The water is so clear and pristine - great views of the bottom of the sea |
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| Adelie penguins, ready to head into the sea |
After we returned the kayak, we went out for a 45 minute Zodiac tour of much of the same territory - the shag colony, a single gentoo penguin on a tall iceberg, the Adelie colony. But add to that a tour of the icebergs. Many of the bergs are grounded and have developed lovely shapes from being washed by the waves. We saw one in particular with a number of arches. And it had green ice! I just read green ice is a function of iron oxides in the underlying rock that dissolve into the water/iceberg. We also encountered a bunch of swimming/porpoising gentoos. They were circling our boat, and it was easy to see them swimming, as the water was so clear.
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| This iceberg looks like a bird in flight - maybe a petrel? |
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| Green ice - from iron oxides |
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| A giant frog - towering over the Zodiac on the right |
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| The head of a tricerotops |
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| A crabeater seal |
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| BIG smiles, happy explorer |
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