February 8

Today is a very sunny day. It feels warm outside even though air temperature is around -3C (25F). It helps to stay in the sun, of course.

As we sit here waiting for paperwork and time to go by, we have all taken the habit of whale watching. There is a large open area in the ice behind the ship and whales come there to breath.

Anna, Randy, Bettina, Peter stand at the stern gate (picture below) hoping for that great whale photo. Cold eventually drives us inside but we reappear in an hour or so to try again.

Below are some photos of minke whales. They don't come too far out of the water so you are only able to see part of their back. This is not SeaWorld, after all.

A minke is at surface breathing (see mist).

 

 

A minke along ice edge.

A minke at surface.

Several people have seen orcas at a distance, in the ice rubble farther away but no one has gotten a good picture. Orcas do not visit the open area by the ship for some reason.

Some folks have also seen seals, in particular trying to get out of the water and up on the ice. We have seen very few penguins out here. It may be that we are too far from the colony.

The pictures below show more scenery of rugged mountains surrounding McMurdo Sound and the icebreaker posing in front of Mt Erebus.

Mountains around McMurdo Sound.

Icebreaker in front of Mt. Erebus.