Gerlache Straight

Today was spent in the Gerlache Strait. In the morning we landed at Cuverville Island and saw a Gentoo penguin colony.

In the afternoon we stopped a Chilean base on Waterboat Point, González Videla Station.

There was a penguin with leucism which means it doesn’t produce normal amounts of melanin in its feathers.

Both parents take turns caring for and feeding their chick. Gentoo penguins often have two chicks and try to raise them both if there is enough food.

Snowy sheathbills will try to interrupt penguin feeding causing the parent to spill some food. The chicks won’t eat it off the ground, but the Sheathbill isn’t fussy.

Penguins need to molt and replace their feathers every year. They try to do it after raising their chicks and before winter sets in. It takes about three weeks, and they can’t go in the water at this time, so they can’t feed.

Upon leaving the station, we took a detour on the way back to the ship to see a leopard seal. They are a somewhat rare sighting.

In the evening we approached the Lemiare Channel, a very pretty 11 mile long channel with mountains on both sides. At the south end it’s only 1/2 mile wide, so if it’s icy, the ship may need to go back. We did see a ship waiting to enter the channel while we were in it. One of the few times we saw another ship.

The captain opened the bow, as the ship went slow, and the sea was calm. I spent much of the time in the channel in the bow with one of the naturalists, spotting wildlife, mainly seals. She was able to do a Facebook live broadcast for a short while.

We ended at the entrance to Pleneau Bay, were we would do a zodiac tour in the morning. We had a nice sunset.