20221220 Tuesday December 20, 2022- Breakwater Islands Gentoo Penguin Colony

 20221220 Tuesday December 20, 2022- Breakwater Island Zodiac Landing, Gentoo Penguin colony

When we awoke, the ship was continuing to transit from Fournier Bay to the Breakwater Island.  After breakfast, there was quite a bit of excitement as a pod of orca whales were spotted off the port bow heading in the same direction as we were going.  There appeared to be a couple of calves along with several adults.  The naturalists said that although the orcas are native, they are not commonly spotted by tourist ships.  

We had also spotted some humpback whales which the ship passed by pretty quickly since the humpbacks were not going anywhere in particular. 

The ship slowed to a stop at the Breakwater Island, which was a rocky island covered with patches of snow but had lots of exposed rock.  The snow had reddish brown streaks visible from a distance.  This is a sure sign of penguin habitation.  The streaks were penguin highways stained by penguin guano.  Even at a distance, it was easy to see lots of penguins.  

Getting dressed for excursions is a real process.  It’s a good thing we had yesterday as a dress rehearsal.  Arriving at the penguin colony required a wet landing- stepping out of the Zodiac into shallow water.  There were two landing areas.  The first is at the base of a snow field that leads down to the water.  This is the main  thoroughfare for the Gentoo penguins between the sea and their nests in the exposed rocks at the top of the island.  Someone had carved steps into the compacted snow and ice and Viking provided trekking poles which made it much easier not to land on one’s behind unexpectedly.  

The Gentoo penguins are a hoot to watch.  We had to stay behind marked boundaries to minimize the impact of our presence on the animals, but they really didn’t seem to mind at all.  Some curious birds crossed those boundaries to mingle amongst the red clad Viking Polaris passenger.  Many of the penguins were walking along the narrow pathways in the snow either up the hill or down the hill in single file.  There were a few spots where they would slide down short stretches on their stomachs like bobsleds.  They were certainly very busy.

The second landing site was on a gravel spit at one end of the island. This is apparently the Breakwater the island is noted for.  Viking Expedition cruises discovered a new Gentoo penguin colony on this spit within the last year.  This site was ideal for passengers who didn’t feel comfortable with climbing up the icy slope at the first landing site.  There were plenty of penguins at both sites.  

Tom and Ciara had signed up pre-embarkation for a submarine dive today, but they received a notification that they would not dive today because of weight balance issues. We were told that the submarine staff has to carefully balance the subs by making sure the weights of the 6 passengers is evenly distributed between the right and left domes, and that the weight is not too great as to hinder the buoyancy of the sub to resurface.  After 10PM Ben and Janet found out on line that they are scheduled for the submarine dive tomorrow.  We’ll hope the kids end up on the same sub dive and that the weather will be favorable.

We had hoped to go on a standby basis for a second activity today.  The Special Operations Boats had some openings late in the afternoon, early evening, but just as the final headcount looked like it would have room for us as standbys, the Captain announced that the wind had risen beyond a safe threshold and all vessels were being recalled.  The final two scheduled SOB rides were cancelled.  We were fortunate that our Zodiac landing went off as scheduled.  Price and Ciara watched the crew retrieving the SOB and dive support boats into the hanger.

The ship’s staff had set out more Christmas decorations and had mulled wine, egg nog and chocolate desserts set up in the dining room to greet us as we returned from our excursions.  The kids are really enjoying the thermal spa facilities and work out room.  

We had dinner in the World Cafe buffet.  This is a step up from even the Viking Ocean ships, despite the much smaller ship size and capacity.  You can have filet mignon and lobster every night if you wanted, and they have an excellent sushi station.  There is also a seafood station with heaps of king crab legs, langoustine (Norway lobsters), shrimp and octopus.  There was even escargot on the main buffet line.  

The desserts are also quite fancy. They have gelato and have a cold stone counter where they mix in ingredients with base gelato flavors.  

We are getting over our sleep deficit, and although this expedition cruise doesn’t have an entertainment staff like other cruises (they have scientists and naturalists instead of singers and dancers) we so far have not missed things like trivia and dancing classes because the excursions have been so engaging and challenging.  Tomorrow we visit Brown Station, an Argentinian research station on the mainland of Antarctica which has been largely abandoned since the main building burned down.  Apparently, the station’s doctor was on a one year contract, but at the end of his first year, when the replacement crew arrived, they told him he had to stay behind because they couldn’t find another doctor willing to spend a whole year in Antarctica.  The winters are particularly difficult since there is eternal nighttime for 3 months.  Then somewhat mysteriously, the main building burned to the ground, forcing the Argentines to abandon the station and the doctor got to go home after all.  There’s a penguin colony nearby so we should have plenty of penguin pictures for our scrap books.