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  Sunday, November 19, 2000 Buenos Aires Arrival The majority of our group of intrepid travelers arrived early this morning after their flight from Miami. After transferring and heading to our downtown Buenos Aires hotel, the group was greeted by Joe Van Os, Wayne Lynch and Aubrey Lang in the Hotel Presidente lobby. After a short welcome and key distribution, a number of our team of photographers disappeared for a nap while an even greater number headed out by bus for an afternoon tour of Buenos Aires and its landmarks. Dinner was a buffet in a private dining room where introductions were made and our traveling plans were reviewed before our morning flight to Ushuaia and our afternoon boarding of the Professor Multanovskiy. One interesting historical footnote is that the United States presidential election had taken place 12 days earlier and at the time of our group's gathering, no candidate had been declared victorious. With limited communications available to us at sea, who knows when and where our group will find out the election results? How many actually care?
Monday, November 20, 2000 Boarding the Professor Multanovskiy Bags were out by 7:30 this morning as the last minute organization of gear was made before our departure to the domestic airport. After breakfast we headed out on the first leg of our journey together. At the airport our group checked in over 2 tons of baggage (literally) and we must have carried more than half a ton of photo gear onto the plane. By mid-afternoon we arrived in Ushuaia where we met our ship, the Professor Multanovskiy, tied up at the dock. Our other group members who arrived independently were there to meet us. We were finally all together, 45 passengers and the Photo Safaris staff of 7 representing 8 nationalities, our Swedish hotel staff and the Russian crew making this an international expedition of 10 countries. By 6:00 PM we were underway, beneath pleasant skies, heading down the famous Beagle Channel. Black-browed albatrosses, plus numerous gulls and terns coursed the sky as we made our way towards the open ocean and our first landfall, New Island, in the Falklands.
Tuesday, November 21, 2000 At Sea Crossing to the Falklands We're still laughing about our departure from the Buenos Aires domestic airport. We had been loaded on a bus to be taken to our plane, but the bus driver took us to the wrong one. Assuming he was correct, we all got off and started filling the overhead bins with our hefty pile of gear before someone realized the mistake. Back to the bus, then to another aircraft which we made sure was headed to Ushuaia. We woke this morning to our first taste of "Rock & Roll." Our first walk down the hallway left most of us ping-ponging from side to side. That was too much for a select few who retired to beds they had just vacated. Just like king penguins, many of our ship mates soon displayed what was to become a familiar field mark for the rest of our voyage — a prominent "ear patch." Our first lecture was by John Shaw, on photo composition. This was followed by Wayne Lynch's presentation on "The Nature of the Falklands." Joe Van Os gave a lecture after lunch. His topic was "Hitting the Beach," a discussion of what to expect photographically at each of our Falkland Islands landings. There was a mandatory briefing by Dennis on the Antarctic Guidelines for Visitors, Zodiac cruising and life jacket information.
Wednesday, November 22, 2000 New Island Today we landed on New Island, our first landing of the voyage. The island, owned jointly by wildlife artists Ian Strange and Tony Chater, is located in the path of the Falkland Current, roughly 280 miles from the tip of Tierra del Fuego. The oxygen charged waters of the current collide with the Falklands and the upwelling of vital nutrients (nitrates, phosphates, silicates) enrich the surface waters which support great numbers of nesting seabirds. Our first sight of the beach included a sunken, Canadian minesweeper, the Protector, which had come to the Falklands after World War II to participate in past seal hunts. The ship ended its days, half sunken and abandoned in the bay. On shore, there was an old dilapidated house which had been used by an American sealer, Capt. Bernard, in the 1800s after his ship was stolen by the British. Our eager group trudged up the hill and over to the opposite side of the island. It felt good to be on "terra firma," after our 2 days at sea. Along the way there were garrulous upland geese, crimson-breasted long-tailed meadowlarks and bold striated caracaras to keep us entertained. After a 30-minute walk we reached our destination — a wind-swept, wave-battered cliff face. At the rim of the cliff, there were nesting imperial cormorants with vibrant blue eyerings and irascible rockhopper penguins. Both of these seabirds were busy courting, mating and sharing the incubation responsibilities of their eggs. All of this was carefully monitored by innumerable brown skuas, the so-called "seabirds of prey." Several times the audacious skuas swooped down among the cormorants and penguins and emerged with an egg in their mouths. The first Zodiac went ashore at 8:15 AM and by 6:00 PM everyone was weary, but content. The skies had stayed clear for most of the day and nature had provided a first-rate performance. The day was capped off by the wonderful BBQ lunch we had on the beach.
Thursday, November 23, 2000 Carcass and Westpoint Islands We awoke to the already familiar Russian greeting "Dobrya Utra," plus light winds, a balmy 43° F and some blue sky peaking through the clouds. The Multanovskiy anchored up during breakfast and shortly thereafter we found ourselves landing on the pristine white sand beaches of Carcass Island. Once ashore, our focus for the morning shoot was found just above the beach. The Magellanic penguins and their burrows were scattered throughout the upland field (called "dry camp" by the local Falklanders). The location of our landing was perfect as we could, within a 5-minute walk, watch them coming ashore, making their way through the tussock-covered sand dunes and on to their burrows. At one point, a number of us sat and watched a Magellanic making trips in and out of its burrow collecting grass to line the nest. There were a variety of birds, and the Magellanic oystercatchers, nesting near our landing site, attracted quite a few of us. The molting upland geese were so numerous on the fields — herds seemed to be a better description than flocks. Other interesting species included long-tailed blackbirds, ruddy-headed and kelp geese, blackish oystercatchers and Patagonian crested ducks. Westpoint Island, our afternoon stop, was just 8 miles from our anchorage on Carcass Island. We traveled there during lunch onboard the ship. Roddy and Lily Napier were our island hosts. Roddy's great uncle, Arthur Felton, was the first to settle on Westpoint in the 1870s. Later Roddy's father managed the farm here as part of the larger Roy Cove Farm on West Falkland Island. After his father's death, Roddy's mother leased, and then purchased, the island from Roy Cove Farm. Roddy inherited the island-farm in the 1950s and has continued raising some sheep and cattle on the 3800 acres. Due to the slump in wool prices, the sheep now provide a very small portion of their income. Eighteen cruise ships are scheduled to stop here this 2000-2001 season and have provided most of the income for the congenial couple for last number of years. They are now receiving ships with more than 300 passengers and, due to this, the Falkland government had installed the brand-new pier we landed on for the first time this season. Many of us were stopped in our tracks right on the beach to photograph the "very rare" striated caracaras — which were everywhere around the settlement. Once off the beach, the majority of us decided on riding Roddy's Land Rover shuttle, rather than make the 45-minute trek with our "light" camera packs, to the rockhopper/black-browed albatross colony. High winds and the associated salt spray made it a challenge to shoot and many of us later returned to the settlement where there were good opportunities for black-chinned siskins, long-tailed meadowlarks, turkey vultures and a crested caracara. The afternoon was made complete as Roddy & Lily hosted us for tea and cakes and a glimpse inside their home and the bucolic lifestyle they have chosen.
Friday, November 24, 2000 New Island, North End It was going to be a tough call. The weather forecast called for very high wind, which could potentially prohibit our landing on Steeple Jason Island. At very best we would only be able to land a few of our most agile participants on the kelp-covered rocks that surround the island. Coincidentally, on our earlier visit to New Island 2 days before, Joe had received an invitation from island co-owner Tony Chater to visit the bird colonies on the north end of New Island if we ever needed a substitute for Steeple Jason Island in case of bad weather. Tony had said he had only invited 2 other ships to visit that part of the island over the past 10 years. Little did he know we would be taking him up on that offer so soon. Due to the threat of "gale-force winds" we decided to explore this new alternative. Instead of having to make a late-night rocky ocean crossing between Westpoint Island and Steeple Jason, we stayed out of the wind for a calm and restful nights sleep as we made our way in protected waters from West Point to New Island. Our Zodiac landings at the north end found us on a tranquil sheltered beach — a far cry from slippery, wave-pounded, kelp-covered rocks of Steeple Jason. The north end of New Island was a veritable wonderland. There were gentoo penguin colonies — some 6000 pairs strong awaiting our eager photographers. The penguins came in waves from the ocean as they scrambled out of the surf onto the beach. It was great action photography. Good photo subjects were found at every turn. Dozens of Magellanic oystercatchers were on the beach. Hillside burrows of numerous Magellanic penguins, and for those who hiked farther, extremely beautiful black-browed albatross colonies surrounded with beautiful yellow lichen-covered slabs of rocks. Five king penguins were present among the gentoo colonies giving some of us a small taste of the larger king colonies yet to come on South Georgia. It was simply a spectacular day and thought by many to be the highlight of our travel in the Falklands. The staff speculated that our open invitation to use the marvelous north end of New Island might never necessitate our visits to Steeple Jason in the future.
Saturday, November 25, 2000 At Sea from the Falklands to South Georgia Before the anchor was hoisted yesterday, most passengers were reaching for scopolamine patches and "seasick" pills in preparation for our 3-day crossing of the Scotia Sea en route to South Georgia. Our good fortune with weather in the Falklands must have followed us to sea as we experienced relatively calm waters all day today — with little need for "seasick" remedies. On deck, passengers tried their hands at in-flight shots of the various seabird species encircling the ship. The most commonly seen and photographed birds were black-browed and wandering albatrosses, pintado petrels, southern giant petrels and Wilson's storm petrels. At mid-morning Wayne Lynch presented a slide-illustrated lecture on "The Nature of Penguins" and in the afternoon John Shaw lectured on "Everything You Wanted to Know About Flash." Throughout the day, Third Mate Alexander Shevyakov held a mini-course on "Principles of Orientation." This hands-on course covered bridge equipment, fixing a ship's position, how nautical charts are read and plotting a course on them. Around 10:15 PM, Dennis Mense announced that the Southern Cross constellation could be seen and several people joined him on the bridge to stargaze before retiring for the evening.
Sunday, November 26, 2000 At Sea from the Falklands to South Georgia Traditionally, the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend was, for us, the midpoint in our journey to what most of us consider the highlight of the trip — South Georgia. We could be thankful, in our little ship, that the Southern Ocean was treating us with gentleness. We continued to have a small following sea (wind behind us) that sped us on our way and did not cause much roll to the ship. The day passed quickly with most of us getting up before Dennis's 7:30 AM Dobrya Utra "good morning" call. Breakfast from 7:30 - 8:30 AM is usually followed by a good lecture to a full house at 9:00 AM. This morning Joe Van Os showed some beautiful slides of "Hitting the Beach in South Georgia." If our anticipation could be heightened, Joe's slides did it. Wayne's talk on the differences between the families of pinnipeds followed at 11:00 AM. He taught us the difference between walkers (fur seals and sea lions), which are also called the eared seals, and the wrigglers (elephant seal, crabeater seal, leopard seal and Weddell seal), which are referred to as true seals. We will be seeing large numbers of fur seals and elephant seals in South Georgia. For those who wanted souvenirs, the ship opened its assortment of T-shirts, sweatshirts, books and other Antarctic memorabilia for an uncommon opportunity for the shoppers among us. In the afternoon many of us were able to put in some time on the outside deck with binoculars to identify the large numbers of petrels and albatrosses that seem to wheel around the ship — even 500 miles from the nearest landfall. As we crossed the half-way point in our 800-mile journey to South Georgia, Dennis read Part One of Shackleton's Expeditions about a similar 800-mile journey in a tiny wooden boat only 22 feet long with only a small sail for power. It was 85 years ago when Shackleton had, in his own words, "uncovered the naked soul of man." After dinner, those who had by now caught up on their sleep from the 3 busy days in the Falklands, enjoyed a nature film, "Colors of the Earth" by a German film team, with beautiful scenery of both Antarctica and South Georgia.
Monday, November 27, 2000 At Sea from the Falklands to South Georgia We awoke after another night of remarkably calm seas. Shortly after breakfast Wayne gave a slide-illustrated talk entitled "The Nature of South Georgia." This was followed at 11:00 by Joe's program on his Emperor Penguin fly-in trip to the Weddell Sea. While we enjoyed the pictures, most of us were quite glad we didn't have to wear the same clothes for 21 days — or not have a shower for the same length of time as Joe and his crew did. After lunch Dennis continued his reading about the Shackleton expedition. All of us were amazed by Shackleton's exploits: the journey in the open boat, the hardships endured, and the terrifying climb over the South Georgia mountains. We speculated on whether Shackleton and his men could have smelled worse than those on the Emperor penguin fly-in tour. At 3:00 PM John offered a discussion on the digital darkroom and Photoshop. Quite a number of our group have tried computer imaging and we traded tips and tricks. The oh-so-calm seas we had enjoyed all day abruptly changed about 4:00 PM to a far more serious rock and roll. A few intrepid travelers went to the bridge, hanging on to the railing to watch and video the waves breaking over the bow. Dinner was lightly attended, while Dennis reminded us to make sure our rooms were secure. The southern sea was giving us a small taste of the strength it could actually muster.
Tuesday, November 28, 2000 Grytviken, South Georgia Early morning found us anchored in the sheltered waters offshore from the old Norwegian whaling station of Grytviken. The station was established in 1904 but the slaughter of whales and elephant seals continued until 1964. The rusting hulks of old ships littered the shoreline and the dilapidated buildings stood empty and silent. The first Zodiacs went ashore at 9:00 AM. For the previous 3 days it had snowed almost continuously, and the ground was covered with 6-10 inches of the drifting accumulation. Along the shoreline there were endemic South Georgia pintail ducks dabbling in the surf and courting Antarctic terns. A band of 5 king penguins were clustered together for the annual molt. High above the beach, light-mantled sooty albatrosses glided gracefully across the towering snowy slopes. Most of the group trudged through the deep snow to the far side of the station to visit the gravesite of the courageous adventurer and explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. A pair of silent king penguins stood nearby as if maintaining a respectful vigil. Everyone was back on board by 12:30 PM and we steamed towards St. Andrews Bay. While en route the decision was made to return to the sheltered waters of Cumberland Bay. Bad weather had buffeted the island for the last week with strong winds from the northeast sometimes registering as high as 60 MPH. The swell generated by such wind made landings dangerous and sometimes impossible. For now, we would wait for the Southern Ocean to calm. The day ended with a cocktail party Joe hosted in the bar; imbibing made our future seem much brighter.
Wednesday, November 29, 2000 Fortuna Bay and Prion Island, South Georgia Mother Nature looked kindly upon us today and we had two excellent stops — the morning stop at Fortuna Bay and our late afternoon/evening stop at Prion Island. As we landed at the head of Fortuna Bay we were greeted by the spectacle of hundreds of elephant seal "weaners" (young recently weaned from their mothers), waddling king penguins and many immature female fur seals swimming in the pool just behind the strand line. Most of us found it impossible to get beyond the beach, as there was so much to shoot. Some did make their way along the beach to the cliffs where Wayne found nesting light-mantled sooty albatross. Their almost eerie cries led us to the top of a tussock-covered outcrop, where we found two isolated nests. Nearby, reindeer which had been introduced to the island for meat and sport by the whalers were grazing on the tussock grass. Those of us who made it to the main colony were rewarded by many shots of king penguins feeding their young — young which, for-all-the-world, looked like they were wearing the rabbit fur coats worn in the 1920s. It was hard to figure out what was going on, as the kings seemed to be in so many different stages of their lives — some nice and fat, some molting, while others were feeding their chicks and a few had eggs on their feet. Wayne promised to fill us in on their complex breeding cycle in a coming lecture. Two large male elephant seals led to the exposure of numerous rolls of film. They were small by mature elephant seal standards — only about 3000-3500 lbs — while the huge beach masters (up to 7000-8000 lbs) had already left the beach to fatten up prior to coming ashore and molting their entire outer layer of skin and fur! Back on the ship in the afternoon we steamed for Prion Island, about 30 miles to the north in The Bay of Isles. The staff was sent ashore to prepare the beach for our arrival and assess potential ways of getting past the horde of aggressive fur seal beach masters on the shore. It was very exciting stuff! Getting through the belligerent seals was like participating in a military maneuver. Directions had to be followed to the letter. Once we were past the fur seals, we could not believe our eyes — wandering albatrosses everywhere; young from last year beginning to lose their down, some gamming and courting, sky pointing and calling, while others reeled about in the skies. Some of us took time to record the photogenic gentoo penguins and their chicks in the late evening light. It was truly a wonderful day.
Thursday, November 30, 2000 Salisbury Plain, South Georgia Wind, visibility and light conditions were not in our favor this morning as we attempted our first landings at Salisbury Plain. After getting one full Zodiac safely ashore, a second boat was turned back as soon as it reached the beach by increasing katabatic winds from the glacier. By the time everyone was back on the Professor Multanovskiy, winds had whipped up to gale force creating conditions that made further landings unlikely. As we settled in for a day on the ship, Joe and Wayne gave impromptu presentations on Iceland and its puffins and penguin biology, respectively. By mid-afternoon our luck had changed and weather conditions had improved dramatically. We quickly rallied the troops and commenced shore landings as fast as people could get dressed and make their way down the gangway. The evening light on Salisbury Plain was exceptionally good with plenty of dramatic sun breaks through partly cloudy skies. King penguins dominated the landscape along Salisbury's shoreline, on the vast plain and even up the adjacent mountainsides. With tens of thousands of adult kings and their chicks, there was no shortage of subject matter to shoot. In addition to penguins, there was an abundance of fur and elephant seals, southern giant petrels, sheathbills, skuas and dramatic scenery to photograph. Several hours after we landed, the last Zodiac made its way back to the ship where a hot meal and warm bunks awaited us.
Friday, December 1, 2000 Salisbury Plain, South Georgia It was a glorious sunrise over the Salisbury Plain for those few who were up at 3:52 AM to see one-after-the-next of the 270 degrees of mountain ranges come in to view. The general wake up call came at 5:00 AM. With only a light breakfast of cereal, coffee and toast, the majority of the 44 passengers were on the beach to catch what for many of us was the highlight of the trip — tens of thousands of pairs of king penguins in one huge colony spreading from the three-mile-long beach up the mountain behind. This morning will be etched in each of our memories. This colony is what makes South Georgia such a special place on earth. We had a wonderful taste of Salisbury last night, but with the morning sunshine cutting sideways across the colony and mild temperatures with small winds we were back for more. For many it was a "10 roll" morning. We stayed on the beach until noon. For most of us it was six very extraordinary hours of shooting. The mountains with a fresh fall of snow created a magical backdrop to the penguin colony. As our little white ship floated in the harbor, the surf brought line after line of kings, fur seals and elephant seals in from their ocean feeding runs. The light, the animals, and the mountains all came together this morning to create the magic we had come to South Georgia to find. It was extraordinary, but the sparkle only lasted for those six hours. By the time we had our lunch at 12:30 PM, everyone was very hungry. At 2:30 PM some of us went back to shore, but the afternoon shoot was nothing compared to the splendor of the morning. It was now overcast, the wind had come up and the temperature had dropped. We had experienced the weather that makes South Georgia famous, a change from summer to winter during the same day. Some of us went on a Zodiac ride to see the fur seal colony at the far end of the beach. We were lucky to see an entire birth of a fur seal pup and watch the manteling behavior of the giant petrels eating the placenta afterward. We were all back at the ship by 4:30 PM at which time the weather was creating white-out conditions with snow blowing sideways, making a difficult and wet Zodiac transfer to the ship. We were glad to take refuge on the Multanovskiy and get a warm shower and hot tea after a special day in the middle of this natural wonderland.
Saturday, December 2, 2000 Hercules Bay, South Georgia We weighed anchor last night and headed south towards our landing site at Hercules Bay. Hercules Bay is one of the very few accessible areas where macaroni penguins can be photographed. Because of the winds, the sea swell built during the night giving rise to restless sleep for most members of our expedition. We arrived at Hercules Bay in the early morning hours to find a strong swell pounding the shoreline precluding any possibility of a landing. We continued on our southeasterly course to Royal Bay — a king/gentoo colony — but our luck was the same, with high winds, big swell and no chance of a landing. After lunch we turned around and headed north to wait for a potential landing at Hercules Bay tomorrow morning. We dined in the relative calm of Cumberland Bay — a respite from the rolling sea outside of this calm harbor. We waited until past midnight before we headed out again en route to Hercules and another chance at the macaronis. Sunday, December 3, 2000 Hercules Bay and Prion Island, South Georgia We entered Hercules Bay early in the morning still riding high swells and tossed by wind-driven waves. At 7:00 AM the ship was tucked into the shelter of the bay; we dropped anchor with high hopes of getting ashore. A Zodiac landing party went ashore to see if this was possible. Not a chance. Waves funneled into the narrow channel leading to the landing site and washed over the bow of the Zodiac. The staff could hardly hold the boat on shore and at one point Joe was stranded on the beach when the waves pulled the Zodiac from the shore. Tempted though we were to leave him, he was retrieved and all returned, wet-through, to the ship. Instead of a landing, we did hour-long Zodiac tours of the protected bay. Macaroni penguins covered the steep hills along with a few South Georgia shags and the odd king penguin. Thanks to the Zodiacs we could approach quite close for photo and video opportunities. While not a landing, this was the next best method available to us for viewing the abundant macaronis. We stayed in the sheltered bay for lunch, and then sailed through heavy swells toward Prion Island. Several hours of swells reminded us, yet again, of just what the sea could do. Those of us who had never been here before were "happy" to hear that these conditions were not considered "very bad." It was a welcome relief to sail into the Bay of Isles. We landed on Prion Island with far fewer fur seal difficulties than on our first time. Soon our entire group was on top of the island, with no winds present which was another contrast to our first visit. The gentoo colony received special attention this time. Many rolls were taken of adults on nests and fat chicks. We also photographed the albatrosses courting and mating and wonderful scenes of their nests within the rugged landscape. One photo note: Robert Lowry had dropped his black Nikon flash unit, backtracked his entire route across the island and miraculously found it between the tall tussocks. Discussion of gentoos and nest sites dominated conversation during a late dinner on board. Shortly after dinner most of us turned in for the night, warned of an early 5:00 AM call for Zodiacs to Salisbury Plain tomorrow morning.
Monday, December 4, 2000 Salisbury Plain (2nd Landing) South Georgia is one of the great wildlife destinations on earth, and Salisbury Plain is the best of South Georgia. What better way to end our stay on this magnificent island — particularly since there was a hefty swell and landing on other beaches might not be an option. The first Zodiac went ashore at 6:00 AM and for the next 5 hours we frantically tried to capture our last moments ashore. As always thousands of king penguins lined the shore as we landed. A dozen sheathbills were also there to greet us. In fact, the sheathbills never left our pile of packs during the entire morning. These white-feathered seabirds which the whalers called "sore-eyed pigeons" kept busy tearing the padding off some tripod legs, pecking at luggage tags and regurgitating yellow stomach oil and defecating on a few of the packs lying on shore. What fun. Some of the group who didn't come ashore went Zodiac cruising to the fur seal colony at the far end of the beach. There they saw birthing, mating, squabbling skuas and giant petrels, and many newborn pups. Late in the morning the weather began to change and it became colder, windier and cloudier. Everyone was happy to be back in the warmth of the ship where they could swap stories over a hot cup of coffee or chocolate.
Tuesday, December 5, 2000 Following the Scotia Arc towards Antarctica After a late breakfast we joined the staff in the lecture room to ask questions about some of the biology of the animals that we had seen over the past week. Wayne reviewed and refreshed our memories of the king penguin breeding cycle so that we could interpret the slides we had taken. Many of us had taken the Zodiacs to see the fur seal pupping beach and we still had many questions regarding their breeding cycles and how it compared with that of the southern elephant seal. John and Joe reviewed some of their camera metering techniques and we all left feeling that the information was beginning to stick. This was followed by John's beautiful pictures from all over North America. Light, metering and choice of subject matter were all covered, with many people remaining long after the lecture's end for further tips and clarifications. Joe's afternoon slides of the New Zealand and Australian Sub-Antarctic Islands added another unusual glimpse into the Sub-Antarctic region we were traversing. The rata forest, the rare (about 1500) yellow-eyed penguin, Hooker's sea lions, royal albatross and mega herbs were all enticing, though it seemed odd that they shared the same habitat with parrots. Dennis's Antarctic Treaty talk was postponed, due to the spectacular icebergs we began to encounter. Chinstrap penguins were using them for a resting stop — and on one berg it seemed impossible for them to have climbed to such steep areas. One tabular iceberg was more than a mile long and 90-100 feet high from water level. We had some beautiful late evening light — highlighting some of the bergs. Several of us went to the bridge late last night after the Multanovskiy had entered a patch of pack ice. It was great fun for us, but required a lot of concentration for the seamen on duty.
Wednesday, December 6, 2000 At Sea En Route for the Antarctic Peninsula For many of us, this was a day of resting, reading and napping. With our plan to cruise the ice on the south side of the South Orkneys foiled by extremely dense ice conditions, our course was now set to go around the north side of the islands and then turn south to the Antarctic Peninsula. Those of us who ventured out on deck between meals, movies and naps were treated to some spectacular ice formations off the ship's port side. While most of this ice was too far off to photograph, it was a gorgeous backdrop to the vast waters we were crossing. Sea conditions could not have been better — probably as smooth as one could hope for in these notoriously rough waters. In the lecture room we saw two episodes of the 7-part series, "The Last Place on Earth." This series is a dramatic re-enactment of the race between Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott as they raced to be the first expedition to reach the South Pole. In the afternoon, Dennis gave a presentation on Antarctica. This lecture covered the continent's natural and exploration history, the Antarctic Treaty and the future of tourism in the region. The views we've had of the ice over the past two days have definitely whetted our appetites for reaching Antarctica! We were more than anxious to get there.
Thursday, December 7, 2000 At Sea While this started out as the last of our 3-1/2 sea days crossing from South Georgia to Antarctica, it turned out to be a wonderful introduction to Antarctica. In the morning Wayne gave his last slide illustrated talk on the "Beauty and Biology of Seabirds." Joe also gave us a presentation on what to expect during the next 5 days in Antarctica — a lot of shooting from the deck of the ship with beautiful landscapes and penguins and seals on icebergs. His talk and photos got us all charged up. It was not long before Mother Nature delivered. By 5:00 PM the bridge was filled with people. We were seeing close icebergs of multiple shapes, many with penguins on them. After dinner everyone was on the bridge or on the front deck. Most of us were held there until 11:00 PM by our first Antarctic experience. It was why we had come. The icebergs and the sun coming out from under the clouds gave us some really great lighting. Those who stayed until sunset at 11:45 PM got to see direct sunlight silhouetting icebergs in a magical and unreal scene. We went to bed once again as happy travelers to a natural wonderland.
Friday, December 8, 2000 Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula Early morning found the Multanovskiy winding her way through a field of tabular icebergs. At 3:00 AM very few of us were on the bridge with Joe and Dennis as we approached Hope Bay — our intended stop for today. But, "hope" soon faded as we neared the anchorage. There were "tons" of Adlie penguins, but no inshore ice to shoot those magical penguins and ice shots. So Dennis and Joe gambled on another location and we turned south and steamed for Paulet Island. Two hours later we met an impenetrable ice edge and could go no further towards Paulet. By 5 AM we once again found ourselves steaming in search of penguins and ice. This time we were going for a "long shot." Dennis and Joe had made stops at Brown Bluff in earlier years and we decided to take a look at it. It turned out to be a great shoot ashore and also offered truly spectacular Zodiac tours. There was a large colony of Adlies and a much smaller colony of gentoos to be found to near our landing site. Adlie chicks were pipping (just hatching) and it was a wonderful time to be there. Some were in the "half shell." Wayne told us that they can take up to 3 days to complete their hatching and free themselves from their egg. The gentoos had larger chicks a week or more old. Some of us noticed the absence of large numbers of predatory skuas that we had been accustomed to seeing flying over the colonies, elsewhere. In their place we found kelp gulls, some of which had their nests on rocks just above the nesting gentoos — perfect locations to swoop down on the penguins and grab the chicks. As we steamed out of Antarctic Sound the late evening light shone on the tabular bergs and became on overpowering sight with the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula in the background. "Ice is the beginning of Antarctica and ice is its end."
Saturday, December 9, 2000 Bailey Head, Deception Island We sailed overnight to Deception Island, a magnificent example of a caldera, to our landing at Bailey Head. Here was a chinstrap colony of roughly 100,000 pairs. We anchored offshore in relatively calm seas, but a very strong wind — spray blowing off wave tops — guaranteed a wet Zodiac ride. Sure enough, everyone was wet when they got ashore. Hurray for Gore-Tex. The wind was so strong that most people buried their dry bags in the beach gravel in an attempt to keep them on shore. Our group split into two parties. One went inland to the chinstrap colony, which extended over hills and swales to the very ridge tops. Here the wind was somewhat reduced, allowing us to photograph with relative ease. The other group of photographers stayed on the beach, working on the endless stream of penguins coming and going from the ocean. Many rolls were also shot in an attempt to capture groups of chinstraps porpoising through the waves and "flying" ashore through the breaking surf. The wind continued to increase in speed as we gathered on shore to load Zodiacs. It took all the staff, plus two Russian seamen, to hold the boats in the surf. Once again we learned the value of dry bags for our photo gear and Gore-Tex for us as the shore-to-ship trip was continuous spray. During lunch we sailed toward Livingston Island. Our planned landing was for gentoos, shags and a few macaroni penguins. However, the best laid plans...the portside gangway was lowered and we watched as the bottom platform alternately plunged many feet into the sea, then rose dramatically into the air. No landing with the swell so high! We sailed off in night sunshine, but the rock and roll of the open seas soon cleared the decks of all but the most avid ice watchers.
Sunday, December 10, 2000 Cuverville Island and Port Lockroy, Wienke Island Our day began early with a 5:00 AM announcement that several Minke whales could be seen from the ship's bow. As people rolled out of bed and onto the bow, they were greeted with not only whale sightings but also the glorious scenery of Gerlache Straits. Following breakfast we went ashore on Cuverville Island. This was the Antarctica that many of us had pictured in our minds before the trip began: rugged snow-capped mountains jutting straight up from the sea, a picturesque bay filled with icebergs of all shapes and sizes, and plenty of penguins — gentoo in this case — dotting the snowy landscape. And, as if the scenery wasn't enough, we were treated to some exquisite morning light that made for a perfect photo shoot. Nesting areas of the island's gentoo colony were spread out in all directions from our landing site giving photographers numerous shooting options and plenty of elbow room to work. The clear, shallow water along the beach provided excellent opportunities to watch gentoos swimming and foraging underwater. It was truly great entertainment! After lunch our ship was repositioned and anchored in a gorgeous bay surrounded by calving glaciers and towering mountains. An island situated in the middle of the bay is home to a British research station currently occupied by two people. Our landing site offered idyllic backgrounds for photographing gentoos, blue-eyed shags and the many whalebones scattered around. Zodiacs were made available for those who wanted to visit the British research station and pick up souvenirs in its gift shop. One of the day's highlights was a Zodiac cruise to see a leopard seal hauled out on a small piece of sea ice. We were able to get very close to this creature and many of us got excellent close-up shots of the seal as it reared its head back and bared its impressive set of teeth. Leopard seal sightings, like this one, are relatively uncommon so we felt fortunate for this opportunity to see and photograph one at short range. Upon returning to the ship we were treated to a full-spread BBQ by the kitchen staff. Sitting around picnic tables on the ship's bow, we marveled at our most unlikely backdrop for such a feast. As we ate and drank, we recounted the day's events before retiring for a good night's rest.
A few hardy souls were on the bridge by 3:00 AM as the ship prepared to cruise south through the scenic majesty of the Lemaire Channel. The snowy peaks lining the waterway looked all the more impressive and inhospitable under a cloudy sky. As so often happens in photography, great moments of golden light are painfully fleeting and so it was this morning. Between 4:00 - 4:15 AM the sun cut through the clouds and bathed the mountains in liquid gold, but the show was over in just 10 minutes, but what 10 minutes they were. By 8:00 AM we had reached the southern end of Lemaire Channel and were at anchor off of Pleneau Island where there was a small colony of nesting gentoo penguins. After much deliberation it was decided not to Zodiac ashore because of the heavy brash ice, which would have made transfers long and tedious. Instead we pulled up anchor and headed back north through the Lemaire and over to Paradise Bay. Along the way many of the group soaked up the magnificent scenery from the bow of the ship, from the top deck and from the bridge. We arrived in Paradise Bay at lunchtime and after our midday meal we started ashore at the Argentine Base, Almirante Brown. The base was unmanned, but it gave us a landing site on the peninsula. While half the group did Zodiac cruises, the others explored the land. Ashore it was possible to discover verdant patches of mosses, multi-branched lichens and some of the miniature creatures of the continent such as midges and springtails. On the Zodiac cruises, the show was stolen by basking seals, both crabeaters and leopards, that allowed us a close approach for close-ups and wide-angle shots. Finally at 4:00 PM we pulled up anchor for the last time and started out on our homeward journey to South America. Shortly after dinner the rolling of the ship announced that we were on our way across the infamous Drake Passage.
Tuesday, December 12, 2000 At Sea — The Drake Passage Sir Francis Drake beckoned and we responded. It was our first day in the "dreaded" Drake Passage — 600 miles of usually the roughest water in the world. For us it was a lot of rolling this first day, but everyone was prepared for it. We were all using our seasick pills or patches by then and we had eight days of open sea crossings behind us to practice our walking and stair climbing techniques in rough seas. Until late afternoon we had 4-6 meter seas which everyone agreed was not bad for the Drake. In the morning John Shaw gave another of his "pretty picture" slide shows, where he talked about his techniques for composition, lighting and exposure. Wayne followed that with a review of his exam of the "University of Antarctica." There was a tie for the best score and in the tiebreaker question Norma Mastin walked away with Wayne's book about penguins by guessing the combined weight of all staff members (within two pounds). The exam served its purpose as a review of what we learned and experienced on our voyage. By dinnertime the seas had calmed and people had a good sleep in what was to be a favorable Drake crossing.
Wednesday, December 13, 2000 At Sea — The Drake Passage We awoke to the persistent roll of the Drake Passage. "The Drake" is a deep strait, averaging 11,000 feet in depth and bounded by Cape Horn to the north and the South Shetland Islands, just off the Antarctic Peninsula, to the south. We were in the middle of a true wilderness — and we were a mere speck on the surface of an ocean that continues to offer a rich and abundant living to those few species that have been able to adapt to what we humans would term "impossible conditions." We were reminded of this as we watched how effortlessly the black-browed, gray-headed and wandering albatrosses soared just above the waves. White-chinned, giant and pintado petrels followed our wake and we produced our camera gear, yet again, in an attempt to record it all. Because of favorable winds we arrived early off the tip of South America, which allowed us a rare glimpse of famous Cape Horn. This was the first time we've been able to get there on a Photo Safari! Our world had changed from rock, ice and the smell of guano to rolling green hillsides, trees and the sweet earth-scent that could be smelled from miles off shore. Late afternoon found us recapping our Ultimate Antarctica journey and then we dined in the tranquil waters of the Beagle Channel.
Thursday, December 14, 2000 Ushuaia Arrival and Homeward Bound The Multanovskiy arrived in Ushuaia in the early hours. Customs formalities completed, our baggage was unloaded. We said goodbye to a few of our friends who were staying in the south to continue their photography in Patagonia and the rest of us flew on to Buenos Aires for a few hours in dayrooms at the familiar Presidente Hotel. From there, we were off in many directions to new adventures, family, friends and the upcoming holidays. BIRD LIST
MAMMAL LIST
MISCELLANEOUS VOYAGE TRIVIA
WRITTEN BY WAYNE LYNCH DENNIS MENSE STEVE MOORE JOHN SHAW JOE VAN OS RICK VANSELOW PHOTOS All photos were taken by clients who participated in this tour. Special thanks to client Pam Moriarity and JVOPS staff member Anne Blair for additional photos. |
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Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc. P.O. Box 655, Vashon Island, Washington USA 98070 Phone: (206) 463-5383 Fax: (206) 463-5484 Email: info@photosafaris.com Copyright © 2008, Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc. |