A new day brought a lot of excitement when the expedition guides unveiled the agenda: starting with a morning’s shore landing at Danco Island. Danco is considered one of the biggest penguin hotspots (coldspots?!) in Antarctica, so the penguin-huggers and bird nerds were pretty excited. (Don’t worry, there was excitement ahead for the whale lovers, too.)

Because ocean conditions were again good, we started out in the kayaks (as with any shore landing, half the guests went zodiac cruising and half were onshore at any given time, and the kayakers were paddling). The icebergs around Danco were absolutely glorious.

Our paddle started out under grey skies, but not long into the morning, the sun broke through the clouds and we saw some stunning blue sky.

Towards the end of each paddle, whenever it was feasible (i.e. we were far enough from the ship and zodiacs not to hear engine noise), our lead guide YT would gather the group together and direct us to be as quiet as we possibly could for two minutes. We’d bob around in the water, dipping our paddles in only when necessary to avoid bumping into another boat, and just listen.

We’d hear seabirds and penguins calling, ice cracking, waves lapping, and even occasionally a glacier calving. These were some of the most peaceful, serene and present moments I’ve ever experienced.

Eventually, it was time to leave the kayaks behind and go explore Danco Island. We unloaded at Big Bertha and steamed off for our shore landing.

Perhaps Danco was over-hyped, but it wasn’t the penguin mecca I’d expected. There were plenty of penguins, certainly, and they were waddling around adorably, doing penguin things. But there were more penguins at Port Charcot and Neko Harbour.

Any penguin time, however, is great!

Steve and I explored the island a little bit, but I didn’t want to walk around too much. At this point in the trip, going from penguin colony to penguin colony wasn’t that satisfying. What I really wanted to do was set up camp in one spot and stay there as long as possible, immersing myself in the penguins’ world and watching their behaviors. So after we’d seen the entire walking route the guides mapped out, Steve and I stood on a rock looking down on the beach and just watched.

Penguin rager!

One interesting observation – made by Jomi, the trip ornithologist, and pointed out to those of us who were standing around watching – was that the penguins on the beach had chicks. Gentoo penguins generally do not nest on the beaches, so this was a bit surprising. No idea why – perhaps just a side-effect of the weird nesting season that saw chicks being born at staggered intervals all summer instead of in one big baby boom?

I guess we’ll never know, but it was fun to watch, all the same. I filmed for a bit, caught a handful of penguins going for a swim, and just enjoyed taking in the bustling scene. At one point, everyone jumped out of the water in one big wave…

And then we saw why…

A Weddell seal, cruising by the beach looking for lunch. The penguins all stayed safely up on dry ground – or ice – until the seal was gone. It would be anthropomorphizing to say they looked nervous, but they were definitely on high alert.

Every day I’m shuffling.

(Who’s that^ guy? Wink.) It was a fun morning on Danco with my favorite paddling buddy! Before we knew it, we were hustling back to the zodiacs, ready to head back to the ship and warm up, because we had the most exciting activity of all on the schedule for the afternoon…

Next week: the whole reason I went to Antarctica!