MS National Geographic Explorer
Gerlache Strait and Cuverville Island
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

    Today was back to a more reasonable schedule – awake at 5 am, a quick visit to the bridge to say good morning, and then out on deck to view the magnificent scenery as we cruised down the Gerlache Strait. Islands to port and starboard, and continent on our left provided an incredible black and white panorama of volcanic stone and pure white glaciers and snow all accented by the blues in the sea and sky. Floating in the strait were small to medium-sized icebergs that would sparkle and shine as the sun would light them up.

    We were entertained on our trip by several humpback whales travelling in the opposite direction, blowing spouts, displaying their dorsal fins when arching their backs, and showing off their giant flukes, each uniquely patterned – the humpback’s equivalent of a fingerprint.

    The humpbacks were not the only travelers in the strait today. We also encountered a group of four orcas. As the captain slowed the ship and reversed course, the orcas also turned and began playful swimming around the ship – both near and far away. At one point, three orcas far out ahead of the ship turned in unison and swan directly for our bow, diving under just at they neared the ship.

    After watching the whales for a while, we resumed our course down the strait headed for Cuverville Island, a picturesque place with grounded icebergs just offshore and a colony of nesting gentoo penguins on the island. We broke up into groups, with some sharing a naturalist-guided hike up and around parts of the island, some choosing to kayak offshore, and others of us to independently explore and photograph the penguins and the ever-present skuas. I visited Curverville about this time last year, so it was interesting to compare the two trips. The chicks were much younger this year than last, but then the chicks grow so quickly, a couple of weeks can make a huge difference in their maturity. The chicks were so small still, that one parent has to be on the nest at all times. If one parent were to die, it would mean that the chicks would die, too, because the remaining parent would have to leave the nest to feed.

    The penguins seemed to be more pro-active regarding the skuas this year. If a skua landed near the nesting area, one, two, or even three adults that weren’t on a nest would charge the skua and chase it away. The skua, however, are very good at taking chicks and eggs from nests via a coordinated arial attack. The skua often work cooperatively, with one or more birds acting as decoys to draw penguins away from the nests while another will swoop in to take a chick or an egg.

    The weather report is suggesting a major windstorm, so we left Cuverville Island and cruised on over to Palmer Station on Anvers Island. We decided to shelter in the protection of their island for the night and have been given a special invitation to visit the station in the morning. The staff and scientists from Palmer visit the ship tonight to listen to Buzz Aldrin’s talk and enjoy some time at the bar with friends on N.G. Explorer.