The melting snow reveals snow fall layers from many prior seasons and Antarctic abstracts.
In one small section of this coastal area we spotted varied Antarctic abstract designs. The melting snow was revealing the layers of previous years of snow, creating interesting designs. These muted color patterns in the cliffs were several stories tall.
Abstracts, My Favorite
Abstract snow designs in the cliffs.
Antarctic Abstract Snow Design #4.
When you cannot decide which photo you like best, make a triptych and you can have them all. I keep wanting to make a photo gallery page of just triptychs.
Goodbye Whales
A whale begins a deep dive at the base of a glacier
My goal with the whales was to get some photos of the tail close up with water dripping off. With that accomplished, I took a wider view showing more of the landscape in which they live.
We were in a Zodiac boat motoring around to try to be in the best position when and if the whale surfaces then dives. Here we were trying to get the whale tail in the ‘V’ shape groove of the mountains in the distance. Close, but did not get it.
Two 30 second videos of whales swimming around the ship. This happened at dinner time so we kept running in and out of the dining room trying to capture some photos. The shrill calls they make are very memorable.
Goodbye to the whales swimming and diving for food at this very moment.
Here are two thirty second videos of whales seen from the ship. This encounter happened at dinner time so the photographers were running in and out to see what they could capture.
Goodbye Chinstrap Penguins
Smiling for the camera.
Flight of the penguin
Goodbye to All the Other Faces we Saw
Yogi discusses matters with Snoopy.
An old sailor guides us out of the harbor.
More faces, more Antarctic abstracts
Goodbye to Almost all the Whales
Whalers Bay – Port Foster, Deception Island
Whale Oil Containers
Several factors contributed to the demise of the prized spermaceti candles made from the head matter of sperm whales. They called it over- fishing, but wouldn’t it be over-whaling? Regardless, there were fewer and fewer whales, so the price rose. Then kerosene became a much cheaper replacement due to some unintended consequences of a government tax on the commercial uses of alcohol. So the petroleum byproduct kerosene stepped in and took over. The California gold rush also contributed to difficulty in getting workers to sign long term contracts.
Much of Whalers Bay on Deception Island has been reclaimed by two volcanoes and mud slides. It has not been occupied since 1969. Those silos were at one time filled with whale oil.
Certainly seems like a terrible, bloody and smelly job. Once you get down to Whalers Bay, I do not think you could quit. Where would you go? Gracious. Every day I learn new stories that make me so happy I’m retired…
Whalers Bay was officially closed in 1931 due to a slump in whale oil prices. It soon became a research facility and of military interest, until the main building burnt down in 1946.
Goodbye to the Friendly Seals and Sea Gulls
While these are juveniles mostly playing around, the one on the right has a bloody mouth.
I had been focused on a couple of seagulls for some time waiting for something to be picture worthy. Then a nearby iceberg split apart causing a very loud sound like a gunshot. It scared all of us, including the seagulls who flew off.
Goodbye Icebergs and Antarctic Sunsets
This iceberg looks like that magical Sorting Hat in Harry Potter
Goodbye Antarctic Sunsets…
One of the very last photos I took before we headed out to experience the Drake Passage, heading to Ushuaia, Argentina.
Hello Buenos Aires Meat Platter
We visited a steak house a half a block from our hotel. I was stunned by the amount of food these two ladies ordered at the table next to ours. They said it was no special occasion, they just thought they would go out for dinner. Gracious! I’m thinking the salad and french fries would have been adequate. We did not stick around to see how much of this giant platter they ate.
The meat platter is sitting over hot coals, so it continues to cook a bit and stay hot.
For all of you meat eaters out there that wish to bump up your BBQ game a bit, here is the exact way to prepare such a meat platter, shown in the 2 minute video below. I would like to have had a taste of each item, but I’ve heard of men having heart attacks on their birthday overdoing it eating steaks etc. Oh, and it was my birthday….
Because it WAS my birthday, I too went crazy and had a steak. I hope my dad does not find out.
The whole country is mad about meat. Here is a random street corner on the weekend doing a weekend BBQ. I do not think these two men are doing this for the first time….
