Day 6 - Port Charcot. I got to get up close to a penguin!
Day 6 - Port Charcot. I got to get up close to a penguin!
By Blog.Admin
Yesterday we almost didn't get to land because the weather wasn't great but we waited and it cleared up. This landing is at Port Charcot and named after a french adventurer. That was good luck because I got to get up close to a penguin! I decided to sit down and watch the penguins for a while.
They are so funny because the chicks are molting and they have patches of fuzz on them. One penguin chick had a mohawk haircut! They are also funny the way they waddle around and sometimes they even fall. So hilarious!
This landing had a snow covered slope that the penguins would slide down too. Anyway, while I was sitting there a penguin came right up to me and pecked at my boot for a while. I could have touched him if I wanted too but you're not allowed too. That was fine with me because it was so close I could see everything about it. Penguins actually have little bumpy teeth inside their beaks.
There is also a little stone hut that Charcot used for scientific observations. It must have been really cold in the winter in that hut.
In the afternoon we landed at Petermann Island. Every time we land it gets better but I was wondering how it could get better than being face to face with a penguin? The answer is being face to face with two and three penguins! I sat down again to watch and these guys were super curious.
They were chicks that were just about old enough to leave their nesting places and swim so they are pretty brave. These penguins would come up to us in groups and grab at our boots and coats, anything at all. My dad was taking pictures of one and he went right up and pecked at the camera lense!
Then he tried to steal my dad's hat! So much fun!
These young penguins also had a pool to practice swimming. Unfortunately, it was really only a slushy pond. The penguins kind of got stuck in the slush and couldn't swim as gracefully as they do is the ocean. They looked awkward flapping around in the slush.
One of the best moments that I will remember for the rest of my life was watching a leopard seal eat a penguin in a bay below us! The seal grabs the penguin and shakes it back and forth to take the fur and skin off so that it can get to the meat. The leopard seal is quite ferocious. I'm sure it sucked for the penguin but it was amazing to see that kind of real life stuff.
On our way to our next landing we were able to see a bunch of whales in the Lemaire Channel. But my day is not done. Tonight, after supper, I'm going ashore and camping overnight in a tent! I can't wait!
Jakob
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