Page 86 - MILA'S TRAVELOGUE - ANTARTICA
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DAY 9                    PARADISE BAY & NEKO HARBOUR





             FEB. 28, 2019




                                     This area was discovered by the Belgian  young whale, 18-20 feet long, longer than
                                     explorer  Adrian de Gerlsche  during  our boat, and swam around and under
                                     his  1897–99  Antartica  expedition.  It  is  us. It wasn’t much of a concern because
                                     undoubtedly one of the most beautiful  of its comparatively small size. Even our
                                     sites   on     the    Antarctic     Peninsula. Expedition Leader and our naturalist
                                     Towering glacial peaks, mountains,  guide Alice, who piloted our boat, said
                                     snow, icebergs, crevasses, and unspoiled  that it was also their best experience to
                                     nature combine to offer a unique and  see a minke whale up that close and for
                                     magnificent landscape unparalleled by  that length of time because this species
                                     anything I’ve seen anywhere in my travel. of whale is supposed to be shy. (Got a
                                                                                      video of the whale in this post which can’t
                                     Our very early morning zodiac cruise in          be  made available  on  this photo  album)
                                     the Bay was the best. To begin with, we
                                     are now very familiar with the routine of  We learned later that the chance of
                                     getting dressed and ready for our outing,  seeing more whales is towards the end of
                                     it was no longer a chore. Then there was  summer. Soon they will migrate north to
                                     the weather that was reassuring, sun was  South America to breed during the winter
                                     out, sky was blue, the wind was calm and  months. It’s a reverse migration process
                                     the  water  was placid.  And  to  top it  all  compared to the Northern Hemisphere’
                                     was the personal appearance of a minke  marine mammals which migrate South to
                                     whale that stayed awhile and played  Baja California during the cold months. I
                                     along with us bobbing its head in and  guess that they both go towards the equator
                                     out of water around the zodiacs. It was a  where water is warmer when they breed.










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