Our first excursion today was at Cuverville Island, and it was all about the penguins who summer here. We had an hour on the island and spent a large part of watching one particular nesting area and in fact, one penguin in particular. He kept walking over to very near where we were standing, very carefully picking up rocks and twigs, rejecting many, and bringing his prize selections over to his mate, nested maybe twenty feet away. His mate could not have appeared less interested.
But our little hero aimed to please, and he repeatedly trekked back and forth, dropping his prizes at her side as, most of the time, she looked the other way. Finally, she stood up and moved some stones into the nest, which we took to be a gesture of acceptance of approval, and gave our little drama a happy ending. I have a little iPhone movie of this whole adventure, which obviously I can't upload from here, but here's a picture of the little guy having just returned back to his foraging spot. (Sorry he's sideways... I haven't figured out how to fix it yet)
Cuverville was also interesting in the sheer number of icebergs and “bergy bits” that are around. Here's an iPhone pic looking across the bay we were anchored in. Our ship is just out of the picture toward the right.
Finally, Cuverville had more snow than Half Moon Island. By their sheer activity, the penguins have carved out trails going back and forth between the water and their nests. Here is a penguin waddling down one of these trails:
After the penguin show, we reboarded the Fram to head through the Neumeyer Channel to our afternoon destination. En route, we had to stop to avoid a group of orcas pursuing a penguin in search of a light lunch. The staff made sure everyone new about this because many of them had never seen this behavior on any previous cruises.
i think penguins may be about the funniest creatures alive!!
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