Today we are making an unscheduled stop in Fournier Bay. We have been able to cross the Drake Passage quicker than scheduled, so we will be stopping in Fournier Bay starting about 1:00 PM this afternoon.
Later today, once we get to Fournier Bay, we will be doing a Zodiac Cruise.
We woke up about 7:00 AM, and it was cloudy and rainy outside. Stephanie is still having some issues with her stomach bug, so she did not want to go to breakfast, so I went by myself after taking a shower. It was still a little rough in the ocean, and the ship was not going that fast, possibly to keep on schedule since all of the expedition cruise companies have to schedule their stops in Antarctica.
Entering Fournier Bay
At about noon, we entered Fournier Bay and headed to the far end of the bay. Along the way we saw a lot of Humpback Whales feeding in the Bay.
It was really amazing, there were at least 50 whales all spread out as we headed to the far end of the bay. The ship used the bow and stern thrusters to keep the ship in a position to block the wind some to allow the expedition boats to take on passengers.
Humpback Whales
I went to lunch by myself again since Stephanie was just trying to feel better. We were due to be downstairs at the meeting area at 2:00 PM for our Zodiac Cruise. We got dressed into all of our gear, and it took quite an effort to get it all on, especially the inflatable life jackets. We put them on in the room just to check sizing and make adjustments, but it was too hot to wear all of this gear before we got into some cooler air.
We packed all of the camera gear into our waterproof backpack and headed down to the meeting area. We should have gone a little later, we had to wait quite a while before they were ready to load us up into the Zodiacs. Once we got there, we had to go ahead and put on our life vests before they would let us into the line to board. It took some help to get the life vests on over the jackets, but the staff are more than willing to help.
Stephanie was starting to get hot, and that was not good. She went over to be near the open door to the outside to cool off, and it helped a little. Finally it was time to board and it was not as easy as we thought it would be because of the swells in the Bay. We had to wait until the Zodiac was on the top of the swell before we could step onto a small stool and then into the Zodiac with the help if two staff persons. Unfortunately, Stephanie and I were the last ones on in our group of 10, so we had to sit in the back near the outboard motor, which is diesel fueled.
Humpback Whales From The Zodiac
We headed out and it was rainy the entire time. There were some whales feeding nearby, so several of the other Zodiac boats as well as ours headed to be closer to them. Unfortunately, with the overheating and then the fumes from the exhaust, Stephanie really started to feel bad and asked the driver to go back.
There was also another guide on board and she assisted Stephanie to the front of the boat away from the exhaust, and helped her to shed some of her layers, and then put her waterproof jacket back on since it was raining. It seemed to help her a lot to be cooler, the heat had really caused her to get nauseated.
She was a real trooper, we were able to stay out and not go back. She already felt bad for all of the other people and did not want to ruin their experience.
Humpback Whale Feeding on Krill
We did get to be pretty close to the whales, but because I was in the rear of the boat, there were too many people in front of me to get good photos. At one point, I even asked the driver to go to the right so I could get some shots from the rear on the left side of the boat. Our guide said this was the best whale experience from a Zodiac she had ever been part of in her eight years doing that job.
Stephanie got s little sick at one point, but it was not much and then she felt better. Luckily, it was near the end of our hour on the cruise, so we headed back to the ship along with all of the other Zodiac boats. One by one, we were all unloaded which was almost more difficult that getting in had been. We headed back to the room to get out of all of our gear, and we decided Stephanie needed to go to the medical center because she felt extremely dehydrated.
The medical center was not open until 4:00 PM, so we just stayed in the room for the thirty minutes until it opened. I was in the middle of getting our ger dried off from all of the rain during the boat ride, but was going to meet Stephanie in a bit at the medical center. She was only gone for 10 minutes and then was back. She had seen the nurse, and the nurse gave her, well really sold her, three packets of electrolytes to mix with a liter of water. Apparently, there will be a $12 charge on our shipboard account for the three packets.
Humpback Whales As We Leave The Bay
Stephanie rested a bit in the room and I headed to the Explorer’s Lounge for a glass of wine or two. Well, maybe it was three. I headed back to the room and Stephanie was feeling better. The ship was leaving the Bay at about 6:00 PM.
We decided to go up to the World Cafe to get some dinner. While I was eating and Stephanie was nibbling on some white rice and soup, the Captain made an announcement that there were quite a few whales right in front of the ship, and we were stopping to see them. We were done with dinner, so we decided to head up to the bow to see the whales. It was still raining, so we had to go back to the room and get our Expedition Coats, and some camera gear because the whales were really close and putting on quite a show.
Serving Warm Beverages On The Bow
They were Humpback whales and were feeding in groups of 3-4 to round up all of the krill. We saw our guide from the Zodiac out on the bow area and talked with her for a while, she was very interesting and knew a lot about the whales feeding habits. She was glad to see Stephanie was doing better. They were serving warm drinks with Baily’s Irish Cream on the Bow while everyone was out watching the whales.
At about 8:00 PM, the whales were done feeding and so the Captain resumed our course. We are heading to Elephant Island tomorrow. It is named for all of the Elephant Seals that are on the island, as well as penguins.
After dropping off all of the camera gear and putting our wet jackets into the drying closet, we headed up to the Explorer’s Lounge for a drink for me and some ginger ale for Stephanie. We were not going to be able to stay long, it was already 9:30 PM, and they close around 10:00 PM.
About 10:15 PM, we headed back to the cabin. We had a good day, despite the issues Stephanie had, but at least she had seen the whales close up on the Zodiac Cruise despite feeling bad.