What a day today- so many penguins, so many different species of penguins, so much activity, such an amazing time.
This will be a photo rich entry as the morning adventure was as good as a full day and the afternoon adventure was as good as another full day!
In the morning we went on a zodiac landing at The Istmus. It’s part of the Macquarie Island World Heritage Site. We had a nice walk to see the Gentoo Penguins, the Elephant Seals, a few Royal penguins and a walk up the hill for a great view.
In the afternoon we went on a kayak, or at least we tried to go on a kayak. About half the group loaded onto their kayaks and started paddling. One went off to the left and Kate, the guide, kept calling to them to head towards the beach. One went off to the right and Kate kept calling to them to head towards the beach. Tibor and I headed out to the ocean and Kate kept calling to us to head to the beach. At that point Kate called everyone back to the zodiac and cancelled the rest of the kayak. The wind was pushing us all over and could have pushed us past the point into rocks.
After we got back to the ship and changed clothes we went on a short zodiac cruise to see the Eastern Rockhopper colony and then landed at Sandy Bay to see the King and Royal penguins as well as Skuas, Giant Petrals, a Megaherb bloom and Elephant Seals.
While we were having dinner, there was a sighting of an Orca. Everyone jumped up from their dinner table and rushed to the windows. It was pretty dinner to see everyone run from side to side and outside to see if they could see it. I just caught a glimpse of a fin- not the best view.
Photos from morning adventure at the ithmus:
Photos from kayaking:
Photos from the afternoon cruise:
Photos from the afternoon landing:
Back on ship- photo taken during dinner:
