BT – Kayaking near Danco Island

One of the things I had been really looking forward to doing in Antarctica was undertaken on our first afternoon. Over lunch we had moved further south to Danco Island (S64°44′ W62°36′), and it was here that we were scheduled to go kayaking. [On this trip about 96 of the passengers wanted to go kayaking, and the kayaking leader managed to achieve this in 8 sessions, using the 6 double kayaks. This was actually the greatest number of people they’d ever taken out, and the successful achievement of this was indicative of the good weather that we had, since only one day was too windy for safe paddling with mixed ability paddlers.]

After collecting and donning our kayaking equipment, we had the rigmarole of unloading the kayaks from the gantry on deck 3 down to the Zodiac (one of the rubber boats used for ferrying people between ship and shore and other activities), where they were tied together in a chain for towing. We boarded the boat ourselves and made our way closer to shore.

We then completed the delicate operation of boarding the kayaks from the Zodiac, before embarking on an exploration of some of the waters off Danco Island.

It was wonderful to see icebergs up close, although you still need to maintain a reasonable distance, since they have a dangerous habit of turning turtle as they melt and their flotation centre changes.

There was a lot of inexperience amongst the kayakers, which meant we couldn’t go too far afield, and I have to confess this was a tad disappointing (this is not to suggest I have any advanced expertise, but I’ve clocked a few kilometres with a paddle before now). However, when it comes right down to it: WE WERE KAYAKING IN ANTARCTICA! (I’m sorry; I was—and still am—just a bit excited about this!)

We got to see our first seal, slothing around on the ice. It did move its head just enough to be able to give us a curious glance, but it was soon back to a half-asleep state. I didn’t get the identification of the different seal species sorted out particularly well in my head; I think this is a Weddell (and not a sloth at all!).

And, umm, there may have been a few more Gentoo penguins, pottering around on the rocky shore of Danco Island, and also on an islet in the bay. I may have taken some photos of them (oh, and also of my sister).

As the time for our explorations came to an end we had to disembark from the kayaks back into the Zodiac for the last bit to Plancius. It was then a matter of teamwork to bring the kayaks back on board. [I used my good little camera on this excursion as opposed to my good big camera, knowing I was taking a risk with its lack of waterproofness. I’m afraid it did get a bit damp and it’s no longer as functional as it used to be, poor thing.]

Before and after dinner (and the food has been excellent) we cruised southward and were lucky enough to observe some humpback whales.

In the photo above—which I included mainly in order to prove that “I was here”—you can just make out a black back just below the little berg. However, things were much more exciting than that: we were treated to some spumes and the whales showing their flukes as they went deeper. The joy of a digital camera made it easier to take sequences of photos showing the flash of the tail and then the gentle submersion. Every whale has quite distinct markings on its tail, and this is used to identify specific individuals. That’s Albert in the bottom sequence (just kidding 🙂 )

One of the things that I’ve enjoyed so far is the mix of light and colour. We haven’t had spectacularly good weather (though by no means bad) but the limited colour palette of whites, blacks, greys, pale blues, and tinges of yellow has still been stunning. There have been patches of red too, from algae that blows up off the sea onto the ice and krill stains from the penguins’ diet.