Thursday, January 4, 2024
I have finally started to feel well, however, it seems Jane has caught my crud. She had a hard time sleeping last night due to a hacking cough. I got up in time to attend a 9 am presentation in the Aula about plate tectonics and how it has influenced the geology of Antartica. Jane made coffee in the room and watched from bed. Afterwards, I wandered down to Expedition Central to review the running checklist of wildlife sited on the cruise. Then, I returned to the Aula where Marc gave his morning briefing announcing that today’s landing would be at Mikkelsen Harbor. And, as a surprise, he revealed that tomorrow we would have two landings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This was followed by a brief presentation on the whaling industry because we would be seeing artifacts of this on the afternoon landing. Later, I attended another presentation on seabirds of the Atlantic Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Our Zodiac landing was scheduled late, 5 pm, so during the afternoon, I wandered around the ship and caught up on blogging while Jane rested.
The Viking Zodiacs landed on D’Hainaut Island in Mikkelsen Harbour. In the past, this had been the site of a whale processing plant. As we approached, we could see remnants of a boat and whale bones along with Gentoo penguins and a seal on the rocky beach. This was an excellent landing with an easy hike to close-up views of various sections of the penguin population and more wallowing seals. There was also an old red whaling building that the penguins had surrounded. We enjoyed this visit and were able to immediately board a Zodiac for the trip back to Polaris without waiting.
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| Landing on D’Hainaut Island in Mikkelsen Harbour |
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| Gentoos on the Rocky Beach |
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| Agitated Weddell Seal |
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| Gentoos surrounding abandoned Buildings from Whaling Era |
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| Skuas are a constant Penguin Threat |
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| Ridge o’ Penguins |
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| Remnants of a Whaling Vessel |
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| Lone Elephant Seal Asleep |
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| Elephant Seal Close-up |
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| Time for a Bath |
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| Gentoo are constantly Active |
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| “Last one there’s a Rotten Egg” |
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| Fine Specimen of a Yellow-Headed Red Penguin |
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| “If only I could Fly” |
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| Penguin Rock |
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| Penguin Watcher |
After a late dinner in the World Cafe, Jane and I returned to the room and I dozed off watching another Aula presentation on the iconic explorers of Antartica via our stateroom television.