Staff and guests in the know always relish an earlier than planned wake-up call, as it certainly means something extra special is happening and it would behoove us to get out of bed earlier than our alarm clock may have otherwise intended. Expedition Leader Lisa Kelley awoke all on board National Geographic Explorer early this morning for just such an occasion.
It was certainly worth wiping the sleep out of our eyes as keen watchers on the bridge had spotted killer whales ahead of the ship! Closer approach helped identify this particular pod of killer whales to be what we now call Type A; killer whales that specialize in killing and eating other whales and dolphins. Our pod was on the move, looking for an early breakfast of whale, and we excitedly joined in and watched the stalk. This time we didn’t get the chance to see an attack, and had to wish our killer whales good hunting as we slowly turned and headed into breakfast ourselves.
Glass-calm and sunshine brought perfect opportunities to both hike and kayak, and this is exactly what we did. On the tiny island of Danco we stretched our legs and gained elevation of about 600 feet to get an overlook of the Errera Channel and the huge icebergs strewn about within the channel. Kayakers had close-up looks of Antarctic fur seals, Weddell seals, gentoo penguins and a lucky few even managed a close inspection of a curious minke whale. A glorious morning indeed!
The afternoon found us in Orne Harbor, a mainland landing site where all got ashore amongst Antarctic fur seals to proudly proclaim a continental landing, for many their seventh! Zodiac cruising within the harbor yielded close-up looks at leopard seals, crabeater seals, nesting blue-eyed shags and chinstrap penguins, and even a pair of inquisitive humpback whales stopped by to thrill us and pose for some photographs. After dinner we were treated to a most vivid red sunset as our day came to a close the way it had started: brilliantly!
