We had scheduled to land in the morning at a former
British station at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, but the wind was too strong
to take the zodiacs out. Ron, our ship historian, taught me that if the wind is
skimming spray off the top of the waves, it is at least 50 knots outs.
Staying on board turned out to be a blessing, as Jason
and I finally had some time to sit down and review my photos. I’ve been falling
into bed after dinner every night, too tired from the day’s activities to do
anything else. So this morning was was a good chance to get some advice so I
can try to improve and experiment a little more before the end of our trip.
We also spent a bit of time on deck videoing to-camera
Q&A pieces. Jason interviewed me about my thoughts on the experience so
far, and I interview him about being so successful in the industry. I don’t
think I could’ve been more muddled if I’d tried! I hope someone manages to cut
my various attempts together and make it coherent.
In the afternoon we landed at Danco Island, where we
waded through a large moulting Gentoo penguin rookery. This time of the year
most of the adults are feeding out at sea, leaving the almost fully grown
chicks to fight over food. It’s tough in a penguin colony; there were quite a
few sad looking chicks that were noticeably smaller and weaker, and even a few
penguin carcasses on the ice.
It was snowing gently throughout the
entire landing, blanketing everything in white. Jason had a great time lying belly
down on the krill laden snow, and I wasn’t too far behind, frozen fingers and
all. By the end of it we’re both covered in slush and smell like old fish.
Chris, our expedition leader, is proposing a 5am start tomorrow in order
to fit three landings into our last day in the Antarctic Peninsula. The days
have just flown by! I’m off to bed now, too tired to clean off my krill covered
pants. A good thing about cold weather is that it deadens smells, so I’ll have
no trouble pulling my fishy pants on tomorrow.
