Petermann Island, Lemaire Channel & Port Lockroy
Note: Today’s Daily Expedition Report was written by Poppy, a 6 year-old guest currently exploring Antarctica aboard the National Geographic Explorer.
This morning we woke up after a “night” where the sun never set, and looked out our window to see a red barn. We were at Petermann Island and the red barn was an Argentinean rescue hut.
After a delicious breakfast, Kendra called our group and we headed by Zodiac to the landing. We saw Adelie and Gentoo penguins nesting. There were lots of chicks and we saw our first nesting Antarctic Shags. Their chicks were big and fluffy and brown. A mean skua was circling overhead but luckily didn’t snatch any chicks or eggs. The Gentoos make the loveliest sounds, and the chicks chirp chirp chirp which sounds so cute. On our walk back to the landing, we saw a penguin skeleton. I got to see how long their legs are. It was a real surprise to see long leg bones, because when they are waddling around, it looks like they have no legs at all.
Next, Mike Nolan took us on a Zodiac cruise where we saw TWO leopard seals hanging out on ice floes. The first one was a female because we saw her two nipples, plus she was huge and the females are larger than males. We could also tell she had been eating krill because her poop was pink. We saw a gorgeous arched blue iceberg that we wanted Mike to drive the Zodiac under, but luckily he wouldn’t. There were dozens of Gentoo penguins swimming around, out getting food for their chicks. We also saw a humpback whale. We got really close to it and watched it surface five or six times, and blow out air. Once, we even saw the tail.
Then it was back to the ship for lunch. I went up to the bridge where the Captain let me wear his hat and steer the ship through the Lemaire Channel, between icebergs and pancake ice. We got our call from Kendra to go to Jougla Point. There we saw a huge whale skeleton and a baby elephant seal. He kept looking at us and yawning. There were nesting Gentoo penguins and this time a skua dove down and stole a penguin egg and flew off with it! When I got back to the ship I got to drive a Zodiac. Jen took a bunch of us kids out and we took turns manning the motor. I circled the ship twice all by myself and brought the Zodiac in for the landing.
Finally, we went to Port Lockroy hut. It is a British museum where we got our passports stamped and mailed postcards. My family sent out 15, to my friends back home, my kindergarten class, and my grandparents. There was a gift shop that everybody was excited about. My mom got me some patches and a book on Shackleton. We saw where the four women lived, in a comfy room that was a kitchen too. They live there for four months and borrow the showers on the cruise ships that come by. Otherwise, they have to use wet wipes to wash.
It is now time for the recap, which is my favorite part of the day. I’m going to order a special drink called a pink penguin. There are lots of yummy snacks and I get to play while we listen to reports from the naturalists and photographers about what happened today. Dinner is steak, my favorite. I’m having a great time in Antarctica. Next trip, I want to visit the North Pole.
