Page 87 - MILA'S TRAVELOGUE - ANTARTICA
P. 87

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.










 86                                                                                                                                                                      87
   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92