Today our stop is on Elephant Point, named because of the Elephant Seals that reside there, along with some Gentoo penguins. Elephant Point at the south extremity of the west half of Livingston Island.
Our Zodiac Landing was scheduled for 8:20AM, so we set a wake up call for 6:30 AM. It was already daylight at around 5:00 AM when I first woke up and looked out the large window. I had to check my watch to see the time, and it was too early to get up yet. I went back to sleep until the alarm went off.
I showered and went to get a bite for breakfast up in the World Cafe at about 7:00 AM. Stephanie had a banana that was already in the room, it was all she wanted.
Elephant Point
A Little Foggy This Morning
After I came back from breakfast, we started the chore of getting into our gear for the excursion. It was cloudy/foggy outside, but we could see that the sun was trying to peak through the fog. We put all of our gear on the bed and started to get dressed in our wool long underwear, socks and then our expedition pants. Last to go on were the jackets, and we did not zip them all the way up to try and stay cooler until we got outside on the boats. At least it was not raining today, so that was good.
We were to meet on Deck A at 8:20 AM, and about half our group was already there when arrived. We were put into the left lane and we actually boarded first. Stephanie waited a little to make sure she would not be in the back with the fumes. With our 10 persons aboard our Zodiac, we headed off. It was really foggy and we think our driver and the driver for the other Zodiac boat going with us were not sure exactly where to go. Another boat came out and got us and we headed a significant distance in a different direction. It was a choppy and sometime wet ride, especially for the people in the front of the Zodiac.
Fur Seals
We finally made it to the beach where they were dropping off passengers from the boats that had left just before us. The sun was peaking through at times, so it was a good day for photos, not perfect, but better than it had been earlier when we woke up.
There were several guides onshore to assist us in getting out of the Zodiacs and into the shallow water to walk onto the beach. There were quite a few Elephant Seals nearby resting and several penguins along the beach. They gave us an orientation on where we were allowed to walk, sort of in a circular path around the certain area we had to stay in.
There were guides along the way to tell us about the different seals and penguins, and one guide even showed us a skeleton of a dead penguin so we could see their structure of feet, wings, etc.
There was one area with a lot of penguins, and then we walked past some juvenile male fur seals doing some play fighting.
Molting Elephant Seals
There was another large group of Elephant Seals farther along the path. There were probably 15-20 seals, all laying together in a couple of different spots. They are shedding their fur, molting, and they apparently do not feel good for the three weeks this takes to happen, and can’t go into the water since they have no thermal protection without the fur.
All along the way there were people to let us know different tidbits of information, which was really helpful. We were only supposed to be there for an hour, until 9:30 AM, but we stayed about 20 minutes longer before we boarded the Zodiac boat for the trip back to the ship. It was still foggy out on the water, so it took a little bit before the ship came into view.
Chatty Gentoo Penquin
The toughest part is getting from the ship into and out of the Zodiac boats, especially if there is a little swell to contend with. They have two persons to assist and hold onto you with a “sailors grip” to help you get back aboard.
Once aboard, we walked through a disinfectant solution with brushes that cleaned and disinfected our boots. Then we headed up to the room to shed our gear and put it into the drying closet.
Long Zodiac Ride To The Landing
We have a Special Ops Boat Ride scheduled for 4:00 PM this afternoon, so we just rested a bit and I worked on the blog. Then we went to get a bite to eat for lunch in the World Cafe. The sun was out a lot more by the afternoon, and we walked around the ship taking photos of the land that was sometimes out of the fog.
We tried to call to see if there was any openings on an earlier Special Boats Op excursion, but they were booked, and all we could do if we wanted to go early was get dressed into all of our gear and head down to the meeting area to see if anyone did not show up. It is too hard to put the gear on and take the chance that we may have to come back and do it again just an hour later for our scheduled tour, so we opted against that idea.
At about 3:30 PM we started the tedious process of putting on our gear. We need to wear more layers for this excursion since the boats go quite fast and the wind chill will be worse. We put on all of our gear and headed down to “The Hanger”, where the boats are kept when not in use. We boarded there and not at mid-ships like all of the other excursions. Also, we did not have to key out, which makes more sense, where are we going to go, and how will we be missing.
When we got down to the meeting area above the hanger, we checked in and and were asked about our audio Vox receivers, which we had not even remembered needing to bring. I had to go back to the room to get them, and luckily, the ship is not big, but it was hard and hot to walk in all of the gear on the inside of the ship.
Our First Special Ops Boat Ride
When I got back we set up the listening devices, and we were set to go. There were only going to be 7 on our group, the boats hold 10 total passengers. This was the last or nearly last trip of the day, so maybe other people just did not want to go that late.
We were directed to the seats right behind the driver and everyone else got on behind us. It is a remarkable boat, the seats are all tall chairs, and suspended on some hydraulics to dampen out the bumpiness of the ride.
Glacier on Livingston Island
We slowly proceeded to go over to an area of shoreline, then headed along a long beach that was basically a glacier of ice/snow. We could not get really close because the water was shallow. We saw several swimming penguins and several fur seal and elephant seals resting on the rocky beach.
We mostly toured along the shoreline where there were rock outcroppings, mainly seeing penguins and some birds.
The boat driver then told us he was heading over to another area fairly far away and really put on a show with the boat. It was very fast and maneuverable. He made several really tight side to side turns at high speed to show us what the boat could do.
We ended up near some rocks where the subs were diving today, and circled around them seeing more penguins and a few birds. This ride seemed to be more about showing off the boat than seeing wildlife, more like a circus ride.
Seals On The Beach
We don’t think it lasted as long as it was supposed to since it was so late in the day. The boat returning after us was even shorter. But it was still fun.
We were dropped of near the rear of the ship at The Hanger area where there were some special platforms for boarding these boats, and headed up to the room to change. We then headed to the Explorer’s Lounge to enjoy some beverages and drink some much needed water.
We saw a few of our usual crowd there and visited. Everyone was talking about the Superbowl game tonight, Viking is showing it in the Aula. Apparently, they are serving quite a spread of food and mixing up Bloody Mary’s and Margaritas for the game. They are having pigs in a blanket, chips and salsa, wings, as well as a few other items, all being served in the deck area under the Aula’s s theater style seating. We may go to check it out, but don’t have any interest in the game itself.
We spent some time in the Explorer’s Lounge having some wine, well I did but Stephanie is just not quite there yet, so she had plain ginger ale. We talked with Robert from Connecticut and he is an avid Eagles fan, so he and his wife were planning to watch the game tonight in the Aula.
We went to get some dinner in the World Cafe, and it was pretty empty, but it was also about 7:30 PM, and many people had already eaten, and were at the game, or even eating in the theater while watching the game.
Sunset Colors On The Mountains
We went back to the room and enjoyed a beautiful and slow transit by some snow and ice covered mountains. The ship was really going slow, we do not have far to go tonight. We had our window down and it was quite a sight, and not terribly cold since there was hardly any wind. It was really nice, there was some sun peaking thorough the clouds over some of the mountains, and the sky had a pink tint in spots. We saw a lot of swimming penguins and a few seals, at least we think they were seals since they were something bigger than the swimming penguins.
We had the Super Bowl game on our stateroom TV, but decided to go to the Aula to check it out and see the spread of food. It was a nice set up. We entered in the upper part of the back on Deck 2 and took some empty seats. There are studio/stage lights hanging from the ceiling, and these seats were a little blocked but good for for us as disinterested participants. Since this was a special TV feed, there were not any of the Super Bowl commercials being played, only promotions for various sports events.
We stayed until half time went to see all of the food again, and left with a few goodies to eat in the room, along with a couple of drinks for me to enjoy watching the game a little longer.
We have an early shore excursion at 8:15 AM tomorrow morning, so we headed to bed at about 10:45 PM.