At Sea



Jan 12-16 Macquarie Island and the Southern Ocean


Jan 12:  What do you get to see in the southern hemisphere that you’ll never see in the northern hemisphere?  Penguins!  


We had an unexpected opportunity for three landings on Macquarie Island, a remote island in the Southern Ocean that is south and slightly east of New Zealand but is actually part of Australia. If you have a chance, look up this island.  It is in the shape of a cigar and barely visible on a map.  We had to acquire an Australian visa prior to our trip in order to participate.  Our first landing site was a research station on the isthmus.  Jody got special permission through the Captain of the ship and the head of the research site and was able to accomplish one of her bucket list goals: to run on all seven continents (yes, she already had run on Antarctica)!  We had assistance from a wonderful young meteorologist living on the island who is in her first year of research at this location, Rochi, who helped set up the course and made sure there were no elephant seals or penguins in her path.  You can see the elephant seals in the tussac grass.






Gift from Mel!!


We spent a couple of hours exploring this site, Lusitania Bay, where we were among King, Gentoo, and Royal penguins, and elephant seals, all blocking our path.  After lunch, our boat relocated to a second site, Sandy Bay, where there were approximately 40,000 Royal penguin PAIRS!  This does not include their eggs or chicks!  These penguins are unique to Macquarie Island as it is the only place in the world where they will mate and hatch their eggs. The island has an interesting story that is well documented - about one man’s plan in the late 1800s that nearly decimated the King and Royal penguin colonies for their oil in just a few short years (almost a million penguins), but through intense protections starting in the late 20th century, the populations are returning and are currently at their highest numbers since the late 1800’s.   Sadly, during the time the penguins were being killed, the crews had also introduced rats, rabbits, and cats to this island.  With governmental assistance, the rats, rabbits, and cats have been totally eliminated, and the penguin population is now thriving - a testament of how mankind can fix problems if it’s not too late.   


After our two outings that day, which included heavy winds and rain, the weather improved, and we relocated to the southern end of the island, where we were able to do another zodiac outing for about an hour and a half, beginning at 8:30 PM.  In this location, we saw King Penguins on every beach, nook, and cranny, even going up some of the hillsides.   We were told the latest estimate in this area (the Southern end of the island) is ~1 million King penguins, a truly remarkable sight!



Royal Penguins


Royal Penguin


Skua (predator especially for penguin eggs and unguarded chicks)



Rather rough characters



Gentoo Penguin


One younger King Penguin on the left (less yellow around its throat) and a teenager on the right.

Mature King Penguin

We then set sail for Antarctica!   We have just completed our third day at sea with one more to go.  We’ve had 3-4 meter (10-13ft) swells and some wind, but so far, most people seem fine, and we have been busy attending lectures, watching documentaries, and did our first polar plunge yesterday afternoon when we crossed the Antarctic Circle at 5:50pm local time!  The water is too rough to jump off the ship, so they filled the pool with ocean water, and those of us who were brave enough, went in…including the Captain!  Fortunately the hot tub was also open….





Today (Jan 16), we woke up in the midst of sea ice and huge icebergs - several the size of many city blocks.  Some seals (for Felix and Leland - Crabtree seals!) were sleeping on floating ice.  All breathtaking and something we wish all of you have an opportunity to experience if you are able to tolerate the challenges to get here.





Till next time, 

Love to all of you,

 Mel and Jody 



 

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