The Whalebone Graveyard.

Day 9: Tuesday, January 7th, 2014
Steps taken: 4,205

The night's rest was just what I needed after what seemed like two full days without sleep.  After breakfast we had a zodiac cruise around Cierva Cove.  Unlike the previous zodiac cruises especially the last one , which felt like we were hares, this one was accustomed to the speed of a tortoise.  I had no problem with this considering the amazing scenery.  The entire zodiac was hushed by the landscape and maybe even the pace of the little black boat.  There were massive glaciers and walls of snow ready to separate in large sheets on the mountains.  While this may be said about much of Antarctica, the cove felt unique.  I think that's the greatest thing about being here: not getting tired of seeing glaciers, icebergs, and mountains.

Also, I don't know if it was the day or doing five minutes of Tai Chi circulation exercises before breakfast, but I barely felt the cold on this particular zodiac cruise.

We came back for lunch and then after some respite, arrived at our next destination which was Mikkelsen Harbour.  We stopped off at Trinity Island first to see the whalebone graveyard.  Perhaps I should have done some more circulation exercises before hand because this excursion was definitely chillier.  The whalebone graveyard was a sight to behold.  Some pieces were massive and many, such as spinal columns, were still attached to each other.  Many of the bones were estimated to have been from before 1910 since there were laws about using every part of the whale around this time, and more people were extracting oil from bone.  Amidst the scattered bones were one wooden vessel.  We spent an hour on the island and then took a zodiac cruise (I'm not going to get tired of saying or writing that.) around the Harbour.

The highlights of the harbour were joking around with Brooke, our zodiac mistress, and seeing some excellent wildlife.  We saw a massive bird fight between an Antarctic Tern and some kelp gulls.  In addition to the birds, we found a leopard seal hanging out on an ice floe.  They responded to us really well.  Kept popping their head up and smiling.  We spent a good five minutes with them.  The thing that we were told was rare behavior was for them to open their mouth, which they did repeatedly.  After saying goodbye to our new friend we returned to the ship.

One thing of note that I forgot about before was the spotting of a pod of humpback whales from the ship before Trinity Island.  They swam with the ship for a good five minutes allowing us for some stupendous photo and video opportunities.  This was a great moment for us all.

For dinner was ossa bucco, and panna cotta for dessert.  Our whole table were panna cotta warriors.  After dinner, Dan and I chilled in the Discovery Lounge with a glass/mug of wine, and talked with a few other Expeditioners before calling it a night.