In summer time, Antarctica is filled with life, and not just with penguins and mad scientists!
Being a rocky island, DdU has lots of little nooks and crannies for petrels to nest in. We were not allowed to go too near the nesting sights as there were chicks, but here are a few photos of snow petrels (white) and Cape petrels. These are about the size of a pigeon, and are not a big threat to anyone.
This, however, can not be said of the skuas who also inhabit the islands. These birds are really big, and really are not very nice. They mostly eat carcasses, but tend to have a rather lax definition of being dead. They also are kind of lazy, so will usually eat only the bottom half of a penguin, and leave the rest strewn around the rocks. They also have nests in the rocks, but instead of simply warning you that you have come too close will dive-bomb you from behind and attempt to scalp you instead.
Other birds that kind of look like skuas are the giant petrels. We saw these off and on during the campaign, but the most marking were the hundred or so that decided to sit around behind the boat for the whole time we were sampling. They come in white and brown, although nobody really knows why. I guess as they're one of the top predators, noone has dared ask. These birds are, historically, even more awful than skuas, but the ones we had weren't doing much of anything, and so were quite acceptable.
We also saw a few Albatros, but only close to Tasmania.
As well as birds, the Antarctic is also noted for it's marine mammals, and we saw our fare share of those, too.
The most impressive were the humpback whales, of which we saw a great deal. There were also a few killer whale sightings, but never when I was on the bridge, so I won't speak of those. The Whale Watcher group wished to take tissue samples from the whales, which meant we got to go right up close. The best group we got close to was a mother and her 6-month old 'baby'. It was an amazing experience, as they were obviously undisturbed by the boat, and the baby was having a huge amount of fun, rolling belly up, and zooming under his mother, etc...
Another wonderful encounter, but this time back at DdU, was the Weddell seal that decided to plop down on the ice right next to the ship. We had seen others before, but quite a long way away, and so this was a nice final gift.
Another nice final gift, but this time of the whole trip, was the huge group of dolphins we met right outside Hobart.
A magnificent moment, to make this an unforgettable trip.
How hard it will be to go back to a 'normal' life on Monday!
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