Wild and Amazing Travel Photos from 2017! In January 2017 I journeyed to Antarctica and Argentina with my friend Annie. We met on a citizen science trip and decided to go see the White Continent, and while we were at it, Argentina.
[Read more…] about Wild and Amazing Travel Photos from 2017 Part One: Antarctica and Argentina
North American Travel Journalist Association has recognized this article in the Annual Travel Writers Awards!
2018 Bronze Award in the category Eco, Environmental, or Volunteer
Who loves penguins? Everybody! And if someone does not like penguins, I don’t want to know them. Penguins overdose us on cuteness. They are a joy to watch whether they are walking, swimming, nesting, or snoozing. I have been fortunate enough to see 5 Penguin Species eye to eye. They are all completely awesome! [Read more…] about Here are 5 Penguin Species You Won’t Want to Miss When You Travel!
In Antarctica there were incredible sightings of Orcas! Have you ever seen an Orca? I’m not talking about the poor captives of Sea World and other marine parks, but killer whales in the wild. I had seen Orcas off in the distance, but in Antarctica I had a bird’s eye view! We sighted Orcas a few times, but on the last day in the Antarctic Circle, in the Ross Sea, we ran into either several pods, or one large pod. They traveled alone, together, and we witnessed a hunt involving several at the same time. *( I did feel sorry for the penguin they caught, though!)
The Orca, or Killer Whale, is a member of the Cetacean Family. There are two types of Cetaceans, toothed and baleen. Dolphins, Killer Whales, and porpoises are toothed Cetaceans. They are a part of our family of mammals. Millions of years ago their ancestor lived on land, but eventually spent their entire lives in the water. They adapted to the marine environment, but they breathe oxygen, are warm blooded, and give live birth, and nurse, their young.
There are different types of Orca, and those populations are currently being studied. The scientists aboard the Lindblad NatGeo Explorer discussed types A, AA, and C. I have no idea which Type or Types I photographed, I only know it was wondrous to see them. Ever passenger on the ship was on the bow!
Did you know that no Orca has ever killed a human in the wild? In captivity, yes. They also do not display the fallen over dorsal fin that many of their brethren do in captivity, so well shown in the documentary, Blackfish. It has never been seen in the ocean. I watched these magnificent creatures, and felt such sorrow for captured Orcas like Tilikum, who must have been mad with grief, with claustrophobia, and with loneliness. Orcas are very social, have their own families with whom they spend their entire lives, their own language and forms of behavior. Orca sons often spend their entire lives in matriarchal pods, with their mothers. For an Orca to be separated from family, from hunting, from migrating…is absolute hell for the animal. Tilikum had had two years of life in the sea with his pod before his capture. I hate to say it, but I feel sure that Tilikum would rather have been dead than in a small pool, performing tricks for the amusement of humans, mourning for his family for his entire life. And yes, of course, I have seen dolphin and whale shows. But no more, and not for a very long time. Never again.
It is a quandary though, as we want appreciation for these magnificent animals, and how to do that for the majority of humans, who will never actually see one in the wild? I can’t say that I know the answer, for any animal. I just know in my heart, to cage a wild animal is surely wrong. But is it necessary? I’m not sure. What I do know is that I am so fortunate, and so privileged, to see animals in the wild, to see other cultures, to travel the world. I am grateful into my very marrow for the life and experiences I have had, and will have. Travel truly does gift one with new eyes, and new perspectives.
Fab Foto Friday and the March of the Adelies!
The March of the Adelies! Penguins are an absolute delight. ALL penguins. I must say, though, the Adelies were the most delightful of the delightfuls! They are one of three Brushtail Penguins species found in the Antarctic, and Adelies are not found anywhere else. The penguins were discovered in 1840 by scientists on a French Antarctic expedition led by Jules Dumont d’Urville. D’Urville named southern Antarctica, or a part of it, Adélie Land, after his wife, Adéle. Scientists Jacques Hombron and Charles Jacquinot also called the penguins “Adelies”.
[Read more…] about Day 6 in Antarctica and the March of the Adelies!
Part Two:
Antarctica is amazing in so many different ways Weddell Seals and Awesome Humpback Whales are a part of it. The trip felt breathlessly exciting…just going to Antarctica is a mind adventure in and of itself. The seventh continent for me, the mysterious White Continent! Seeing animals, is for me, the most incredible part of almost any trip and Antarctica has plentiful life both above, and below, the sea. On Day 5, when we were looking at the Blue Whale bones, I was made aware that two large Weddell Seals were snoozing nearby. I took a seat by the bones, as close to the seals as I could get without endangering myself or startling them, and just sat quietly, watching them. Of course, I photographed them as well, obviously!
Ever heard of a Weddell Seal? I think they are the prettiest of the Antarctic seals…at least, the ones I saw, which were Crabeaters (who don’t eat crab), Elephant Seals (huge!), Leopard Seals and Weddells. I know there are fur seals, but I didn’t see any of them. Seals are different from sea lions though they are related…seals do not have ear flaps, they can’t “walk” around on their flippers like sea lions can, but the most beautiful difference is their vocalizations. Sea Lions bark, Weddell seals almost sing. Their vocalizations are very pretty, almost like song. A sweet difference. Check out some sea lions!
After Port Lockroy the expedition headed toward Wilhelmina Bay, named for Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands, who reigned from 1890 to 1948. It is a 15 mile wide bay located between Reclus Peninsula and Cape Anna, along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-99 led by Adrien de Gerlache. To say this bay has spectacular scenery is an understatement. It is a popular destination for humpback whales because of its rich plankton rich upwells. We were not disappointed! We saw them quite a few times, but in the Bay, they came very close to the ship. I was on the bow, photographing them, and they actually went under the bow, coming up on the other side. This was the closest I’d ever seen their blowholes, their throats, and their blows! It was truly magical.
Two of the Humpbacks stayed very close together as you can see from the photographs! The whole ship seemed to be on the bow, either taking photographs or making loud “oooooo” and “ahhhh” sounds. Dinner that evening was loud with chatter about the Humpbacks and people running around showing off their photos. A very exciting day for the entire ship.
PART ONE:
Yes, day 5 was the most exciting yet! On the fifth morning we visited Port Lockroy, used as an anchorage by whalers and known as secret Base A as the British used it to monitor German shipping movements during WWII. Operation Tabarin, named for a famous Paris nightclub, for reasons I don’t really know. Maybe the group who named it loved the nightclub? The “base” is now a museum, and four people reside there for the four months of summer. The museum was interesting, and the store was a pretty standard souvenir store, but the two amazing reasons to stop here are the whale bones, and the Gentoo Penguin colonies.
Whaling was one of the main reasons countries sent expeditions to the Southern Ocean, and the remnants of this cruel practice are very evident. The bones are bigger than one can imagine…we saw Blue Whale bones and were just stunned into silence. Did you know Japan still hunts in this ocean? They hunt Minke Whales, who are very endangered, and they say it is for “scientific research”. Bullshit, of course. An International Court of Justice ordered Japan to stop the practice of hunting whales, and they stopped for one year. Japan is back at it. (Sea Shepherd is an organization trying to stop it.) I want to stress that whales are very, very intelligent mammals with languages and social interactions. Some whale groups have culture, it is not only humans who transmit norms and behaviors and language. Having a social culture is a sign of extremely high intelligence and depth of emotion. Hunting these animals is criminal.
Gentoo Penguins have a lot of personality and since summer is nesting season, there are a lot of them! Moms, Dads, chicks and fledglings are everywhere. Note the nests of stone, built by the dad. If his nest isn’t pretty awesome, a female won’t want to mate with him. Male penguins have to work hard, but sometimes they cheat, taking stones from another nest! Then the squawking begins!
The perfect ending to a perfect day was kayaking with my friend Annie, watching penguins “porpoising” and seeing gigantic leopard seals.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Day 5!
