As soon as we reached the beach, we boarded
a Zodiac and headed to a nearby fast ice. A fast ice is a platform of ice stuck
“fast” on a rock or land. This one was about 10 feet thick and 100 square feet.
Jamie Watts, our British guide, spotted some crabeater seals lounging on the
ice. Crabeaters are smaller than Weddells and their snouts are slightly longer.
They grow to approximately 2.5 m and weigh up to 400 kg. Given their name, you
would have thought they feed mostly on crabs; not quite – their diet is largely
krill, the shrimp-like creatures that support most of the wildlife in
Antarctica. In fact, my guidebook says crabeaters are probably the largest
single consumer of krill on earth. Jamie counted the ones we were looking at –
45 in all! (There were also Weddell seals in the group – six of them.) For the
first time, we saw some of them move. Jesse thought they moved like slugs, but
faster; they wriggled through ice and made barking sounds. Their fur was
silvery grey, which would look much paler as they age. All the while, I thought
the bigger, older ones were just covered with snow …
Jamie took us back to the beach where we
came from. Our Latino fellow passengers had stripped down to their swimming
trunks and were taking swigs of vodka. With ear-piercing yells, they ran and
dove headlong into the bay. This was the so-called polar plunge, a mighty dare
to swim the Antarctic waters. Today the temperature was below zero, with the
wind chill factor making it worse. The rule was to dip your whole head and
body. Swam they did, and ran back they came. A few more shots of vodka made the
rounds. They quickly changed into warm clothes. Boisterous laughter echoed all
over Telefon Bay! It was now our children’s turn. Jesse, Juliene and Jason had
worn swimming gear underneath their jackets and fleece pants. Stripping
quickly, they ran to meet the waves, dove, and ran back. The whole group
cheered wildly!!! An elderly Australian woman rushed to Juliene and wrapped her
in a towel. Ruslan Eliseev, our Russian guide, offered a shot of vodka to
Jason. Jason didn’t want to take it until I said, “Drink it!” That was his
first ever vodka. Rhodora busied herself with Jesse. That was the crazy thing to do. Quite daring, and we’re proud of
them! Onboard the ship, the Australian woman who helped Juliene approached me.
“Your kids are very brave,” she said. “I wish they were smarter,” I replied
laughing …
Our last activity was a cruise to Baily
Head, which lies on the southeastern extremity of Deception Island. It is a
natural amphitheater within a 550-foot high rocky headland. Baily Head is home
to one of the largest colonies of chinstrap penguins, the first penguins we
ever saw in Antarctica. Today we saw a colony of 250,000 chinstraps!
Chinstrap penguins are most easily
distinguished by the conspicuous black stripe extending below each eye and
joining under the chin. (Hence, the name.) Adults reach up to 77 cm high and
weigh around 5 kg. The top of their heads and backs are black while their under
parts are white. Their faces and necks are also white. Chinstraps eat krill and
fish, which they pursue by diving at shallow depths.
We couldn’t land at Baily Head because of
the large swells, but that was okay. Jamie drove our Zodiac as close as
possible to the beach and, from we were, we could easily see the chinstraps
waddle in the beach and walk up and down the mountainside. Large groups huddled
in the beach and got swept by the tide now and then. Even larger groups plunged
into the waters and went “purpoising” near our boat. One side of the mountain
seemed covered by guano or penguin poop. The place was stinky! The sheer number
of the penguins was overwhelming.
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