Neko Harbor, Antarctica
After Cierva Cove we set course for an overnight ride to Neko Harbor (pronounced: KNEE-co). There are no actual harbors in Antarctica, but there are many places that are named “harbor”. I do not get this, other than perhaps, it is easy to land there.
I awoke at 6:30 am for our daily COVID tests. All passengers and staff were negative, however, three crew members tested positive. They were quarantined on the ship and we continued our business.
I had the daily breakfast, and at 8:30 my group was called to the mudroom for our next expedition. I packed up my Antarctica Marathon medal, GoPro, phone, and made my way to the mudroom. We were at Neko Harbor to visit a gentoo penguin colony on MAINLAND Antarctica! We are not dealing with any small-talk island in the South Shetland Islands, but MAINLAND Antarctica! I was getting goosebumps.
Gentoo Penguin Colony in Neko Harbor, Antarctica
I boarded the zodiac, and we were swept off to the mainland. Upon arrival, I noticed the foul stench emanating from the island. It was penguin poo, and it was pretty rank. The second thing I noticed was that there was a pretty large and steep “mountain”. There were penguins all the way at the top. “How the heck do penguins climb mountains?” I thought.
I disembarked the zodiac, started the GoPro, and followed the crowd of people. On the ship, we were educated on penguin highways and that they use them to go get from one place to another. They can be quite deep because as the snow falls and the penguins continue to use the highway, the snow gets packed down. When crossing a penguin highway, you must look to ensure that there are no penguins coming up OR down. Penguins have no natural predators on land (far from the reality in the water), so they are not afraid of humans. They are curious little ones and will walk right by you and not even think twice. The number one rule when in Antarctica is that we are in THEIR home, and they have the right of way. You must stay about 15 feet away from them, and if they are on a course to cross your path, you MUST STOP and let them do their thing. If they go around you, then let them. If they hop next to you, you let them hop next to you. Do not make any sudden moves to frighten them and all is good.
A Penguin Highway on Mainland Antarctica (Neko Harbor)
I saw people walking up the backside of the mountain, so I started to slowly make my way over there. Twice, I was stopped by a gentoo penguin crossing my path. I got a cool video of this penguin crossing my path and I had to wait for it to pass by. There seemed to be quite a few penguins here. Currently, Antarctica is in the late summer, and you can see penguins in all stages of growth: Eggs not yet hatched, newborns, adolescents, and penguins molting.
As I walked up the backside of the mountain, I could hear what sounded like a low-flying airplane (or a freight train). I heard this several times, looked skyward, but never saw anything. Finally, I got the idea that it might be the sound of the ice breaking/cracking on the glaciers. I asked one of the guides, and they confirmed my suspicion. I saw two small avalanches in the distance and a glacier calving a bunch of ice into the open sea.
I continued up the hill and was at the top in short order. I stood there and took everything in. To my left was the harbor and the Ocean Victory (with glacier-covered mountains in the background), straight in front of me was a gentoo penguin colony, and to my right was a massive glacier hanging over the ocean. I pondered just how I was going to describe this to everybody at home. The result was that there were no words to describe it – you MUST experience it for yourself, and that is the honest truth.
Holding my Antarctica Marathon Finisher’s Medal on Mainland Antarctica with a Gentoo Penguin Colony Behind Me
I took out my medal and asked Liz to take my picture in front of the penguins. She screamed and said, “You actually brought your medal? What a GREAT idea!” She gladly took my picture and then asked if she could borrow my medal for a picture. Of course, I did, and I took some pictures of her. At this point, EVERYBODY wanted to borrow my medal for a similar pose/shot. People were offering to pay me to use the medal, but I told them just to pay it forward and do a good deed for somebody. One lady offered to buy me how many ever drinks I wanted back on the ship. I told her that I was a cheap date and that all I drank was water.
After spending what seemed like an eternity at the top, I made my way back down, only to be stopped by three more penguin crossings. I made my way back to awaiting zodiac. Before going back to the ship, we went for a small ride out in the harbor, where we saw a crabeater seal chillaxing on an ice floe. A minke and humpback whale also surfaced. That led to the question, “how deep is the water right here”. The guide said it was about 300 meters deep, even though we were not too far from land!
Crab Eater Seal on an Ice Floe in Neko Harbor, Antarctica
After our small zodiac tour, we were taken back to the ship, where I went up to the 8th-floor observation deck and saw several more humpback whale surfacings.
Lunch on this day was going to be a BBQ on the deck. However, katabatic winds swept in and the winds went from 8mph to 70mph in a mere 90 seconds! I have NEVER seen anything like this. One minute I was standing on the deck watching for whales, and LITERALLY the next minute I was fighting to stand on my feet! WOW! The outside BBQ was canceled and we ate inside.
We departed Neko Harbor and set course for Cuverville Island. Cuverville hosts a very large gentoo penguin colony with 4500 pairs of breeding penguins. 9000+ penguins in one spot! This should be pretty wild. We arrived there a few hours later, but the katabatic winds were still whipping at 70mph, so there was no opportunity to make a landing. BOOOOOOO!
The captain plotted a course for Deception Island. I sat in the library and read my new book String Theory for Dummies.
After dinner, my new friend Bai and I played cards in the 8th-floor observation deck. We are both very interested in astronomy and we both wanted to see the southern sky. We planned to stay up to see what time it got dark. We played crazy 8s until about 11:30 pm when all of a sudden the winds picked back up. The 8th-floor observation deck has a bar (although it was unattended). Throughout the evening, people put their empty coffee cups and wine glasses on the bar. When 70 mph winds pick and rock the ship violently back and forth, guess what happens? You guessed it! The observation deck resembled a yard sale with all kinds of broken glass. Bai and I left and told reception of the problems they had upstairs. They said they would send somebody to clean it up.
I retired to my cabin where Tom was lying in bed. We went to bed, but the ship was rocking pretty badly. At one point, Tom was thrown off his bed and into the wall! Luckily he was alright and had no injuries. Most people did not sleep well that night. Me? Well, I just shut my eyes and went to sleep despite the rocking. The next morning, Tom said that he was up all night and could not understand how I could sleep through such a terrible thing!