January 4th continued -- Seals, fin whales and penguin chicks, oh my!

I went up to the main lounge after lunch for Mikolaj's talk on seals. Mikolaj has been the Base Commander of the Henryk Arctowski (Polish) research station on King George Island for the last year and is finishing off his time in Antarctica as the marine mammal specialist on the Clipper Adventurer. He has studied elephant seals extensively and has spent quite some time in Antarctica. He is also one of the best lecturers on the ship...you can tell he's taught university as he has lots of good jokes and anecdotes to share.

After the lecture I headed up to the bridge to try and spot some orcas...but no luck. We sighted several more humpbacks; the whales showing off their flukes, dorsal fins and even a little tail! We were on our way to the South Shetland Islands, into the English Channel towards Barrientos Island (one of the Aitcho Islands Archipelago) where we would have our final Antarctic landing.
Due to its proximity to the Drake Passage unfortunately a considerable amount of human flotsam and jetsam washes up with the tide here. During the crossing we got super lucky and got to see two fin whales!! These whales are the second largest animal in the world!

Once we arrived at Barrientos Island, I got busy with the film crew. Because of my work in the Falklands they wanted to interview me about some of the vegetation growing on the island, and asked me about how global climate change might affect the vegetative growth in Antarctica. There is definitely greenery on the island; it looks like a cross between a moss and an algae. It is hard to believe that much of anything could grow in this type of environment!

We got to spend lots of time watching gentoos and their chicks up close and personal. The chicks are especially curious as you can see by the photos...they would get super close to us, and then suddenly realize 'mom' was somewhere else. Then they would squawk and waddle around looking for mom once more.

I also got the chance to get some great shots of the chinstrap penguins, and their feet!

And right before we had to rush back to the ship, Niklas zoomed our zodiac over to a neighbouring island so we could see some Weddell seals. Just lounging on the beach, smiling for the pictures, scratching their noses...just chillin'.

Our last Antarctic landing...I don't want to leave! I didn't want to leave the Falklands and I don't want to leave here. Somehow work doesn't seem quite so exciting right now. It feels as though the real world is so far away; but I suppose I've only got the Drake Passage between this adventure and reality.

Side note: If anyone is wondering what penguin tastes like...

"If it is possible to imagine a piece of rotting beef, odiferous cod fish and a canvas-backed duck roasted together in a pot, with blood and cod-liver oil for sauce, the illustration would be complete."
~ Dr. Frederick Cook, the Belgican Expedition, on what penguins taste like