Antarctica, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil
Antarctica, Hansen Island/Hanusse Bay
Later in the day, our fourth in Antarctica, after recovering from the Polar Plunge, we reboarded our Zodiacs for a tour of the icebergs at the north end of Hansen Island near the south end of Hanusse Bay. At this point, we were some 90 km (call it 55 miles) south of the Antarctic Circle.
Here are few photos:
This Crabeater Seal was snoozing away on her private piece of drift ice. As we approached, she lifted her head and stared right at us.
She seemed to have decided that we were not much to be concerned about, but struck this pose, still watching us. You'll notice that she had a bit of red on the right side of her mouth. This probably wasn't blood. Crabeaters, despite their name, don't eat crabs. Instead, researchers estimate that 95-98% of a Crabeater Seal's diet is krill. As we learned at the Adélie Penguin colony just the day before, krill have a reddish pigment, and that's likely where the red on her mouth (and on the snow in the previous photo) came from. Unlike any other seal, the Crabeater's teeth are finely lobed. The lobes essentially create a strainer that allows a Crabeater to take seawater into its open mouth, then close its jaws and eject the water through the lobes, leaving the krill behind for them to swallow.
And I have to add, isn't she cute?!
This iceberg reminds me of a fanfold. It looks like it has been revolving clockwise (in this view) around its right end, presumably because ice has been progressively dropping off the left side—maybe underwater?—leaving behind the fanned waterlines. One has to wonder if this iceberg was close to rolling completely over.
Does this iceberg look like an ice Nessie to you? It looks like a sea serpent to me. It's probably the former bottom side of an iceberg that recently rolled over.
I enjoyed watching the Shags fly. This guy made me think of landing an airplane—flaps extended, gear down, on a stabilized approach to landing. And he did make an excellent landing!