Danzenbaker Tour Journal: Antarctic Peninsula -- Day 6

January 20: Paradise Bay, Neko Harbor – Humpback Whales!
 
After several fairly gray days we were relieved to see that the cloud ceiling was higher and that there were slivers of blue sky this morning. The crew had dropped anchor in Paradise Bay overnight after our late passage through the Lemaire Channel. Paradise Bay is mesmerizing in its beauty. It features a panorama of picturesque icebergs, snow-capped mountains, and glaciers. The early hours were spent cruising from Paradise Bay to Neko Harbor, where we would remain anchored for the rest of the day.  En route, we encountered several Humpback and Minke Whales.

Our docking at Neko Harbor was delayed because of another ship that had been ported there the previous night. Apparently, one of its passengers had sustained a serious glissading (a controlled sliding descent down a icy/snow-covered slope) injury, which held up their departure. After setting anchor, our entire group, 110 of us in all, crowded onto the bow for a group photo.

Humpback footprint – clearly seen as a Humpback uses its huge tale on the surface of the water to propel itself. The footprint can last for several minutes.

After the photo shoot, it was zodiac cruising time. I piloted a zodiac out closer to the mouth of the harbor in order to join up with three other zodiac groups that were already watching two sleeping Humpback Whales. Thankfully, the whales were undisturbed by our presence as they continued to float on the surface. After about 15 minutes they did wake up and started to dive. Following the first dive, the other three zodiacs headed out, leaving my group in solitude to enjoy the two Humpbacks for nearly an hour. They were making fairly deep dives, which allowed us to get spectacular views of their incredible flukes from only 30 yards away. Two passengers on the zodiac had made a point of challenging me to find some whales that we could view at close range. Challenge met! As a leader, it is always a thrill to deliver the goods.

After spending the morning with the Humpbacks, we returned to the Polar Star for lunch and to share tales of the morning’s experiences. We learned that Doug Cheeseman’s zodiac had enjoyed an up close and personal experience with a Minke Whale to swam to within five feet of their boat!

With eight previous trips to Antarctica under my belt, one might think that this leader had seen and done it all, but  as this tour (perhaps my last) was winding down, I still had one piece of unfinished business. I had made it known among the entire group that I was still waiting to see a good calving glacier. As the morning cruise concluded, I clung to fading hopes that this trip might still provide me with this thrill. 

Although slow on land, Gentoos are excellent swimmers in the water and watching them torpedo through water and then porpoise through the air was a zodiac crusing treat.

After lunch we were back in the zodiacs for another 3.5 hours of cruising. Initially, we weren't finding any whales and few seals, which was disheartening after the success of the morning run. We found sufficient distraction in photographing more icebergs and the huge split columns of ice that formed the foot of a glacier. On occasion, Gentoo penguins porpoised by our zodiac as they made their way back to their colony.

I decided to cross the mouth of the bay and see what was on the other side. When I finally caught sight of one whale dorsal fin, I was hopeful that our luck was about to change. It did! Over the next hour plus, we were surrounded by feeding whales. Huge Humpback Whales came within 20 feet of us and a group of Minke Whales soon joined the feeding frenzy. We had crippling views of gaping whale mouths overflowing with krill, extended throat pleats, blowholes, stovepipes, and dorsal fins. The krill must not have been very deep as the Humpbacks never fluked.

The highlight of this cruise came when a group of 4 Minke Whales came swimming along. I aligned the zodiac so we could parallel them, but they changed heading and we soon realized that we were on a collision course. They generated an impressive power wave as they headed straight towards our boat! At the last instant before crashing into the zodiac, they submerged and swam right underneath us. There were audible exhalations all around as they resurfaced on the other side and continued on. We were ecstatic!

Five minutes later, people were once again pointing out whales and I noticed that everyone was looking in a different direction. Two-way radio have this annoying habit of going completely dead at the least convenient moment,  so we had no way of making contact any other zodiacs to share our good fortune. Eventually, fellow naturalists and zodiac drivers, Hugh Rose and Rod Planck showed up so that we were able to share the whales. My only disappointment of the afternoon was that I was unable to show one of the women in my craft a Weddell Seal. We had simply run out of time. We arrived back at the Polar Star and I offloaded the passengers. 

While waiting to take the zodiac up on the hook, an amazing thing happened – I heard a loud "crack" and looked around just in time to see a huge mass of ice and snow falling from the highest point above one of the glaciers. I watched transfixed as I realized at long last I was watching a calving, but not from a glacier. The snow and ice crashed to the ground with an incredible cracking roar, sending a huge cloud of snow dust some 75 yards out over the water – truly spectacular!  I suddenly realized that I was hearing the cheers of passengers and leaders who had gathered on the stern of the ship. They were celebrating that I had finally seen a calving - woohoo!!!! I couldn’t contain my excitement and everybody knew it! To see a veteran guide enjoying his own "lifer" moment must have been exciting for passengers who had spent the better part of four weeks being provided with such events on daily basis. Their is no joy, like shared joy.

After the spectacular calving, I had the sobering realization that we had just finished our last zodiac cruise of the trip. I turned the motor off and connected the zodiac to the hook for one last time. On the way out of Neko Harbor, we found three more Minke Whales and several Humpbacks. Bearing north into the Gerlache Strait, we were hoping for more whales.
 
By dinner time, we had tallied eight Humpbacks from the bridge. I finished dinner early and headed back up to the bridge to relieve Gail Cheeseman of “on-watch” duties. She had seen about five additional whales, bring our evening count to thirteen.  Soon after returning to the bridge, I looked out and started seeing whales everywhere! Thankfully, Ted Cheeseman had been offering updated counts during dinner, so my p.a. announcement, while not surprising, further reinforced that the place to be was on deck. Doug also announced that whales were in the area. Doug, Gail, Ted and I chose one group that looked particularly promising for prolonged viewing of their behavior. We chose wisely. 

Fluking whales were incredible in the Gerlache!  The pattern on the underside of a fluke is like a footprint so one can easily recognize individuals.

During the next 2 hours, the Polar Star was surrounded by feeding whales! A group of five even lined up and did what appeared to be a group bubble feed.  Instead of a bubble ring, they appeared to have made a bubble wall which concentrated the krill even more so that all five animals could lunge through the densely packed krill and feed. We were treated to fantastic views of fully engorged pleats, yawning mouths, and flukes too numerous to count. The Gerlache had delivered! One group of whales included a rambunctious calf that breached several times and then remained on the surface for an extended period and repeatedly slapped its long white pectoral flippers on the water. We counted 17 consecutive slaps! The whale viewing climaxed with passengers looking straight down off the bow at the whales – WOW! After a long day and some celebratory refreshments in the bar, we would sleep hard.
 

All photos by Jim Danzenbaker