Day Six - Neko Harbour

Our zodiac struggled this morning through sea ice toward the rocky shore. From a quarter-mile out, we could see "dots" in the snow, gentoo penguins.

At the landing area, a single gentoo penguin casually walked by ignoring us.

On the ridge above, a waddle of  penguins gathered to view the distant glacier.  Most of these penguins are nearing the end of their moulting, a two-week period when they shed their old feathers and new ones replace them. During this period, they are unable to swim and thus are fasting. Fish are their only diet.  Once their moulting is complete, they will return to the sea.  Soon after they will begin their migration north where they will winter in warmer waters.

An elephant seal rested above the shoreline among the penguins.  (The brown bulge in the photo center.)  This bull seal was likely 13' long and weighted more than two tons.

By the time we returned to the Octantus, the sea ice had drifted on.  After lunch Gene was scheduled for a ride in the submarine. 

It was a half-mile ride by zodiac to reach the sub.  Octantus carries two subs, this one was named Paul.  Our sub's pilot had already performed his pre-dive checks and was waiting  topside for our arrival.

Six passengers accompany the pilot on each dive, three passengers on each side.  The quarters are tight and the interior reminds me of the early Apollo space capsules used by astronauts.  They spent a couple of weeks aboard on their journeys compared to one hour for our dive.

We descended 770' to the bottom of the ocean.  There is virtually no natural light at this depth and depended on the sub's exterior lighting to view our surroundings.  

Vegetation was non-existent (no light, no plants) and only a few simple creatures to be seen.  This Antarctic sun starfish lives on the sea bed and can grow to 24" in diameter.

Gene's vanity photo seated in the submarine Paul.