Bad Hair Day

Remember those cute, little Adelie chicks from ....

2 months ago ...

one month ago ... well ...

they are currently having bad hair days. They are losing their baby fluff and looking like young adults. Notice how the black feathers do not cover their chin yet (adult is on the right). They will get their adult feathering next year. Now that they have feathers they are waterproof and can enter the water to play and find food.

Looking Down the Throat of a Humpback

 

The Day of the Whales lasted several days. Swarms of krill filled the ocean so the humpbacks spent days in the area feeding. This whale came within 20 feet of our zodiac, but at not time did we feel concerned that the whale might hurt us. They were aware of our presence and did not seem to care.

It's hard to believe that these large whales eat krill, a shrimp-like crustacean that can be found worldwide.They use the baleen in their mouths to sieve the krill from large mouthfuls of seawater.

Day of the Whales

Today, we were blessed with around 15-20 humpback whales near station. They were feeding on krill and so they stuck around most of the day. We went out in the zodiacs and watched them for hours. We saw them bubble feeding and breaching - it was awesome! I went out twice to watch them.