Antarctica and South America on the Zaandam

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The tails were getting closer and larger

 

 

 

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We had arrived at a penguin colony

 

 

And the Captain was moving the ship around so that both sides of the ship could see it

 

 

We didn't get too close to the mountain though

 

 

 

Telephoto time

 

 

The brown trails were made by the penguins and we could smell them

 

 

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We were trying  for so closer shots of the penguins but the Humpback whales divided our attention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The whales were getting closer to the Zaandam and they weren't the only ones

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We had another ship moving in at a high rate of speed

 

 

 

It was The Silver Cloud

 

 

 

 

 

They positioned themselves directly between the penguin beach and us

 

 

 

 

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And after The Silver Cloud moved in , the Zaandam moved out 

 

 

 

 

A Gentoo was really moving fast

 

 

In fact it was flying 

 

 

 

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Some telephoto views

 

 

Love the glacier

 

 

 

We'll be coming round the mountain 

 

 

 

We were glad that we were on the move so that we could see more scenery while the weather was good

 

 

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We love these  Lenticular clouds

 

 

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Another ship on the horizon ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like a mushroom cloud

 

 

 

close up

 

 

 

We could see the other ship well now . It was the Hurtigruten MS Midnatsol 

 

 

They were tucked in pretty close to the glacier 

 

 

 

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We saw a couple of Gerlache orcas near the ship

 

 

 

 

Source : https://us.whales.org/wdc-in-action/meet-different-types-of-orca

 

Gerlache orcas, named for the Gerlache Strait of the Antarctic Peninsula where they are most often found, are smaller than Type A and Pack Ice orcas.  They also may appear brown or yellowish because of diatoms and have a cape of pale color.  Their preferred diet is unknown, but they have been seen feeding on penguins and are usually spotted around penguin colonies. 

 

We finished the evening photographing a couple of old friends .

 

 

 

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In the morning it looked like it was going to be a gray day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to head up top to introduce some more color into the photos

 

 

 

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We were moving toward a Chilean base to try to see a penguin colony there

 

 

The Silver Cloud was already there with boats in the water

 

 

 

 

An Adelie penguin

 

 

 

 

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The Orca were back

 

 

 

And this time they were chasing a penguin

 

 

 

Video clip :

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Because of the strong winds we were zigzagging around the continent doing a Antarctican Tango

 

 

And on a slightly different note , I had my lucky whale shirt on and we hoped that it would work .

 

 

We were just taking in the view from the balcony

 

 

 

when a loud wooosh erupted in front of us .

 

 

It looked like it was going to ram us .

 

 

It hesitated for a second , and arched it's back

 

 

and raised it's tail a little 

 

 

and left a little calling card  .

 

 

 

DW's video of the whale :

 

 

 

 

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We were up at 6 AM on December 31 , 2018 to see Deception Island

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_Island

 

And from what we could see , it lived up to it's name

 

 

 

Fog rolling in

 

 

A ghost ship ?

 

 

 

Penguins on a volcanic beach

 

 

 

 

This ship past us

 

 

and it and the island disappeared into the fog while we moved onward , ever onward .

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As we were having breakfast some chinstrap penguins were feeding also 

 

 

 

 

They are fast as you can see in this video clip :

 

 

 

 

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We heard this announcement on TV about a giant iceberg 

 

 

 

They later said that was 11 miles long and 5 miles wide so we went out back to see it 

 

 

We couldn't see it all so we went up top

 

 

There was iceberg as far as we could see 

 

 

There was also snow on the deck and we were told that there was a blizzard over night 

 

 

There was enough to make a small snow man

 

 

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We were now en route to King George Island the largest of the South Shetland Islands 

 

 

 

There we would be entering Admiralty Bay

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty_Bay_(South_Shetland_Islands)

 

 

The sun had  come out a bit helping to brighten things up

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sailing out of Antarctica and 2018

 

 

 

 

 

The Polish Antarctic base

 

 

Penguins on the rocks

 

 

 

Picking up speed

 

 

And our last whale sighting

 

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With the South Shetlands in our rear view mirror we were now headed North toward the Falkland Islands

 

 

 

 

Sunset was another cloudy affair

 

 

But it got better

 

 

 

Video clip :

 

 

 

 

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It had been 9 days since we last walked on land in Punta Arenas so we were ready to come ashore.

 

 

It looked to be a nice day

 

 

 

Tenders away !

 

 

It's about 20-25 minutes to tender to shore

 

 

Welcome to the Falkland Islands

 

 

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After coming ashore we met our guide and driver , Kurt , from Estancia Excursions .

 

 

 

http://estancia-excursions.com/tour/volunteer-point/

 

It's about 2 1/2 hours over pavement , gravel and off road for abot 12 miles to see the penguins at Volunteer Point , so buckle in and hold on .

 

 

 

 

 

On the ranch and time to go off road

 

 

Video clip :

 

 

 

[PhillyTravelBug]

This is amazing!!   I just did a cruise to Alaska and now want to start saving for this! Think I’ll be saving for a while. Stunning scenery!