Operation Penguin Watch
"There's nothing between us and the Antarctic said the guide in the black inflatable zodiac." It was 8:30 in the morning, the swells were a heaving six feet and we were cocooned in waterproof gear and life jackets, hanging on for dear life.
Just after sunrise we anchored off The Snares, a small rocky archipelago designated as part of the New Zealand Sub-Artic Island's World Heritage Area by UNESCO for its outstanding biological diversity. This was an unscheduled visit for us.
Albatrosses had been tailing the ship for the last couple of days with black and white petrels, which soared and glided in graceful arching sweeps behind the stern. We watched them fascinated long after the sun set at 9:30 and the long southern twilight was warmed by a golden full moon. Today we would see one of their main nesting sites, a protected sanctuary for thousands of se a birds.
As the zodiac approached the islands, large groups of yellow-billed penguins surrounded us bobbing in the water and calling to one another with hoarse squawks. Ahead we could see the penguin freeway, a trail that leads up the steep cliff from kelp to tree daisies where the penguins nest. The rocky islands with their caves and rugged fissures are rimmed with a thick band of yellow ochre kelp at waterline and topped with a forest of Tree Daisies. The penguins who had greeted us – swimming alongside – now swam for the shore and somehow clambered up the slope slick with wide bands of shiny kelp. Some splashed back into the water only to try again.
Penguins, to me, have a humorous demeanor and the ungainly scramble up the kelp added to the comedy. Once up and on the flat rocks they shook, smoothed out their shiny tuxedo plumage and began to walk around with their unique rocking gait. The Snares Crested Penguins have tufts where their ears might be which gives them a look of judicial seriousness. (Sorry too many lawyers in the family). On the rocks they preened and convened. Others began the big trek up the rocky freeway to the Tree Daisy forest, passing others on their way down.
The zodiac was heaving in the swell and we needed to keep moving so we moved into another cove where Hooker sea lions begin to swim alongside. We then became aware of hundreds of them lying on brown rock ledges – resting and perfectly camouflaged. High above us on the cliffs albatrosses nested protected by overhanging outcrops, and still petrels in every size and type wheeled and dipped around the cliffs and high above the zodiac. I didn't see any sooty shearwaters – though the islands are home to the largest (3 million) colony in the world. They nest in burrows, which honeycomb the ground under the tree daisy forest – another species unique to these islands.
The journey back from The Snares to the south Island was very rough. I took to the cabin=2 0so M and I had dined there quietly on local lobster tail, the dinner du jour. It was a perfect end to a day which was unexpected. It was completely unscheduled, off the itinerary, a surprise – Another thumbs up for expedition cruising. ttfn
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