The weather gods were angry with us today -- we woke to fog and icy cold wind which really didn't let up all day. There were brief periods of visibility throughout the day, but we had to be satisfied for the most part with watching from the warmth and safety of indoors. We were treated to Dutch ham and pea soup, which really hit the spot as we blew in from our short ventures on deck.
Our Captain guided us safely around the many icebergs, and even got us fairly close to shore as we passed the orange Chilean research station. The seas became rougher as the day progressed, and we could see waves breaking on the icebergs -- Brrrrr! Dinner was a challenge as we rocked and rolled through the angry seas ...
A little bit of history....
In 1914 Ernest Shackleton wanted to cross the Antarctic by dogsled but ran into problems. His ship, the Endurance, was frozen fast in ice in January 1915 where it remained until November. After living on an iceflow for 5 more months, Shackleton ordered his men into the lifeboats on April 9th, 1916. Five harrowing days later they landed on Elephant Island. He set off to South Georgia with a handful of men in their best lifeboat, the James Caird, leaving 22 men behind. After enduring two weeks of rough seas and a treacherous hike over Georgia Island to a Norwegian whaling station, followed by three foiled rescue attempts, ALL hands were rescued on August 30th, 1916.
Antarctic Penguins:
There are 17 species of penguins, and the six in Antarctica are:
KING, 33 lbs., 38 inches, a record dive of 884 feet
EMPEROR, 65 lbs., 46 inches, the largest and heaviest
ADELIE, 11 lbs., 28 inches, the most numerous
CHINSTRAP, 10lbs., 27 inches, line of black feathers under chin
GENTOO, 12 lbs., 28 inches, the fastest swimmer
MACARONI, 9 lbs., 28 inches, named after elegantly dressed British travelers
(think of the song, Yankee Doodle ... stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni!) These figures are all averages. The movie, March of the Penguins, chronicled the life cycle of the largest, the Emperor penguin.
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