Did a close repeat of the Beagle Channel tour (exact same catamaran and everything), but this one went further to the penguin rookery as well, and got to see 3 different types of penguins, including the majestic king penguin.
Tour
Almost considered just skipping the tour, since it was mostly a repeat of the Beagle Channel cruise, but just went further to the penguin rookery, but I had heard rumors of there being a King Penguin, so dragged myself out of bed for the 7am tour.
There were also a TON of people, so I knew it was going to be a crowded day. Definitely windy and cold, but I figured I’d get out as soon as possible and head to the top deck and just sit there for the day.
Sea Lions and Cormorants
As soon as the safety message was done, I left the crowded room and headed to the top of the catamaran. Saw some cormorants and sea lions (surprisingly, the first island with hundreds of them yesterday was completely abandoned, so they must go somewhere else overnight or they’re all hunting or something).
We went on to the see more of the cormorants, including the one that was feeding its babies (the baby had its entire head up the parents throat, and the parent was trying to jerk away, but the baby wouldn’t let it :D).
The sea lions were out and about as well, and very vocal as well. They were barking at each other which was kind of fun as well.
I particularly liked the one that was hitting one of the other sea lions that was bothering it with it’s flipper repeatedly.
Penguins
After the lighthouse, we left and went on to the penguins. It was a LONG way out there, and we must’ve been cruising out there somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes. It was worth it though. As we got to the islands, we started seeing penguins everywhere (including some cormorants all littered throughout the place).
We got to the penguin rookery and started to see all the penguins and their babies (will never get old). Kind of surprisingly, we (and a lot of smaller boats), were going right up on shore, and as we bumped up to the shore, all the penguins scattered away. It was sort of an interesting feeling, because while the penguins are cute, it feels like we shouldn’t be going right up and scaring them all away or making them move for us.
As we looked over, we also saw some gentoo penguins, and as I was looking at them, someone said one of them was the king penguin! As I scanned looking through the long lens, I found it and it was glorious. Apparently a couple years ago there were 4, and over the years they’ve left (or died) and now it’s just the solitary one by itself….maybe I can call it my introverted friend as well.
Looking around, I also saw a fun little magellanic penguin that I call my old man penguin. It was standing and guarding it’s burrow and wouldn’t let the other penguins nearby. I can just imagine it saying “get off my porch”.
I also like these teenage ones that are in the process of shedding their baby coats of fur.
People
Unfortunately, while it was beautiful around there and I loved the penguins, I also witnessed a bunch of people on one of the small boats reach out overboard and feed the penguins and try to touch / pet them and get a selfie with the penguins. I was about to yell out at them and tell them off, but thought that might annoy the penguins too (I try to be quiet and observe only as much as possible — also why I almost exclusively shoot on silent shutter on my camera as well). I took a photo of them, but more importantly, they know who they are and they should be ashamed of themselves…although I’m 99% sure they aren’t, because they’ve been doing obnoxious things all over the ship as well.
Back to Ship
We then headed back to ship and went back against the wind and water spray again, we were booking it back to the ship, but I didn’t really want to be inside with a bunch of people and the noise in the cabin so mostly stayed outside and enjoyed the fresh air.
Upon reaching the port, I noticed that the ship next to us (the National Geographic Explorer) was flying a penguin flag, which got me even more excited. I’m fascinated by that ship and looked up a few of their cruises (they’re $$$, but maybe one day if I save up :D).
Leaving Port
As we left port, the Captain informed us that we’d be sailing past some glaciers so I grabbed my stuff and headed up to my perch. It was SUPER windy and started to rain as well, but we got a few pictures before they closed the open decks due to wind and told us to go inside.
I went back inside and put my equipment down and started editing photos when the captain told us that the “spectacular” glacier was on the side of the ship. I had put my stuff down, but went out with my phone to see if we could see anything at all.
Turned out to be a lovely waterfall coming off the glacier, and to my surprise, the open decks had been reopened at some point (I guess the wind died down), but there were SO many people down out there. I stayed out for a couple seconds, admired the glacier and waterfall, then went back inside cause of the crowd.
Food
Mozz sticks, tuna spread and some fettuccine alfredo with chicken. All great and delicious, really nice time to warm up after a semi-long day out in the wind.
Vibe Check
4 parts joy – KING PENGUIN
1 part anger – humans are the WORST
Feedback
Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!
Matti 
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