We often saw penguins making long, arduous treks for no reason apparent to us. Where is this guy going?
On board the Greg Mortimer expedition ship we continued to cruise among giant icebergs and islands, looking for penguins and seals. The photos in these Antarctica blogs are shown in the approximate order in which they were taken. So you are seeing the trip unfold as I saw it. The best is yet to come…
The Base Primavera, an Argentinian owned research station, is one of 77 in Antarctica and one of 13 owned by Argentina.
Many of these Antarctica so-called research stations were built as a matter pride for countries like Argentina. However, they are now often under attack by environmentalists. To do research, a small town sometimes needs to be built with trucks, roads and sewage. Hummm, I’m not sure, but I think 10,000 penguins also produce a LOT of sewage… and it smells too. Every place we visited had a strong stench of penguin and seal poo. This base has been operational only in the summer months since 1982.
Because of the software, you may need to click on the photo to see it in a larger size to view the many penguins dotting the hillsides. The photo opens up in a new window.
Swim Time for the Penguins
Many of these penguins thought it was a good idea to go swimming, find something to eat and wash off some poo. So the whole group of them seemed to want to get into the water at about the same time.
Let’s all head to the beach and go for a swim…. and a bath.
So out into the harbor they went, jumping, feeding and having a good time.
Until Mr. Grumpy Pants, a leopard seal, showed up to spoil the party.
Then as fast as they leapt in, they all returned, shooting straight up out of the water, springing two feet high. They jumped and swam as if their life depended upon it, which it did… Note the two penguins on the lower left jumping completely out of the water.
A Pod of Orcas, AKA Killer Whales
One morning while still on board, a large pod of orca whales swam by our ship. The most impressive part of this scene is the noise they make when they surface and exhale.
To get off of the ship and into the Zodiac boats each morning and afternoon, specific groups are called. Maybe the kayakers get called first, followed by deck number two then the crazy photographers with the Iceland photo group may be called. Off to the mud room to get on our rubber boots, etc., for our Zodiac excursion. On this day, my group was still on board when the orcas swam by. Those lucky enough to already be out got up close and personal views of the orcas swimming by.
As we motored about, looking at the icebergs and the abstract designs in the cliffs, we continued to see the orcas throughout the afternoon.
Three penguins watch a small pod of orcas swim by. It is a difficult life being near the bottom of the food chain.
Iceberg Cruising
Believe it or not, I did lighten up on the blue tones of this iceberg. The blues are so vivid they do not look real. This morning we simply cruised around in the Zodiacs checking out the designs in the icebergs.
Among the more normal blue icebergs were the occasional clear floating ice. Possibly it had been at the bottom of an iceberg, experiencing much pressure, compacting the ice and squeezing all the oxygen bubbles and air spaces out of it.
As we circle an iceberg, we are constantly snapping photos, not knowing if what we are seeing is the best or if it will get better around the turn.
Chunks of icebergs fall away and eventually get washed ashore. Here we see an iceberg through the hole in a washed up chunk of melting ice.
Not sure how this glacier erosion happened, but it is certainly a beautiful effect.
We will say goodbye to the myriad of icebergs for now as the fog rolls in and its time to head back to the ship.
Even More Penguins
At times I was really searching for photo opportunities. How many photographs of penguins does a man need?
It’s a twofer… Penguins and glaciers.
An iceberg with penguins and the Greg Mortimer in the background.
These were among the most photographed penguins in Antarctica in 2024. Thirty-five photographers taking 500-700 photos of these well positioned and clean penguins could be 25,000 photos.
Bones, Old and New
Young molting penguin chicks play ‘King of the Mountain’ on some whale vertebra.
Piles of whale bones remain from an old whaling station.
There are no large carnivores or vultures to clean up the dead caucuses. Some similar sized sea birds will peck at the dead penguins, but mostly they add to the stench of every island we visited. The green is an algae which feeds off of the penguin poo and here feeding off of a decaying penguin.
Photos like the above are called near/far relationships in photography. The beautiful and colorful foreground is in focus as well the distant background. 😉
Well, I’m even making the seals yawn. Our cruise around Antarctica will continue…
in a word… WOW
Great photography, great scenery.
Thank you for sharing your adventures.
An interesting trip Harold, i enjoy looking at your pics and the narrative with each one. Did you get any video of the killer whales breathing as the surface? Would be interesting to hear what that sounds like!
I only got videos of the whales surfacing, not the killer whales. I’m very bad at remembering to take videos. I once took still photos of a king snake chasing a rattlesnake in the Grand Canyon. Of course you cannot even tell a chase is going on, a video would be required for that. Thank you for taking the time to look, more posts are coming weekly.