Sunrise 0348; sunset 2228 (an even shorter night than yesterday).
During the night we rounded the eastern end of King George Island and are cruising in calm waters along its southern shore. By 0800 we turn north into English Channel which lies between Robert Island to the east and Greenwich Island to the west. In this channel we anchor off Aitcho Island and go ashore to see our first penguin colonies. There were Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins nesting everywhere with typically two chicks per stone nest supervised by an adult. Some of the chicks had done their first molt to the black and white feathers, others, younger, were still in their gray fluffy down. The Gentoos have a red-orange beak, while the Chinstraps have black beaks and the characteristic narrow black band under their chins.
A bit up the beach were a cluster of juvenile elephant seals lying on the beach. Occasionally one would open its eyes and peer at us, but mostly they ignored us. Since this was our first Antarctic landing, we all took far too many photographs. There were several "tree stumps" on which it was possible to sit and allow the penguins to come to you. Rosemarie correctly identified the stumps as whale vertebrae. There was also a huge whale jawbone.
We were able to watch adults "change the guard" at their nest with elaborate vocal displays and posturing and were able to watch the pilfering of small stones to re-build a nest at the expense of a neighbor.
During lunch the ship shifted around Greenwich Island to Yankee Harbor. En-route we saw a humpback whale blowing on the starboard quarter, eventually sounding with a show of flukes.
The landing in Yankee Harbor was sufficiently wet that Paul got a bootful of sea water. Here were lots of gentoo penguins and an occasional elephant seal. The weather was mild, no wind and blue skies. The beach comprises a bed of black stones rounded by sea action or, possibly, the ancient glacier that deposited them.
En-route to Yankee Harbor, the ship dropped off a Zodiac with depth sounding equipment
to check out the possibility of a landing in a place called Fort Point on Greenwich Island.
As we returned, the Zodiac crew reported 30M depth and a protected, rocky, coast.
Tom Ritchie, the expedition leader decided to anchor and we went ashore. We found a
colony of fur seals and several large rookeries of Gentoo penguins with a solitary
Macaroni penguin with chick. Its partner was presumably at sea, feeding.
The footing was uncertain, consisting entirely of sea-rounded basaltic stones. Rosemarie waited by the Zodiac landing site while Paul went with a group to inspect the face of a glacier which towered 75 ft. over the water's edge. A handful scooped from the face is quite unlike snow. It has the consistency and clarity of small ice cubes. Unlike snow, the ice would not compact or allow one to form a snowball.
Tom Ritchie announced before dinner that the ship would head toward the Weddell Sea for landings. Tomorrow morning we'll be on Paulet Island and later on Snow Hill Island in the Erebus and Terror Gulf. (Don't you love the names?) Paul attempted to get the football scores on the radio but could only hear BBC in English and they are not interested in American football.
2100 17 January 1999 S62°44"; W 58°39"
Course 125 deg., temperature 30 deg F, heading for "Iceberg Alley" between the tip of the Trinity Peninsula and Joinville Island. We are encouraged to be up on the bridge by 6AM to view the passage. We set the alarm for 0500. One does not get a whole lot of sleep on a Special Expedition journey.
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