More wildlife in this entry - including a humpback whale sighting. In addition to learning about the amazing continent of Antarctica, I sat with a group of people at lunch who told me some interesting LGBTQIA+ history that they lived through. I wrote a little of it in my journal, but may one day do a full blog post on the Virginia Tech Denim protest.
11 November, 2025
National Geographic Explorer
21:10
I decided to pamper myself today with a five minute trip to the sauna and a fifty minute massage. I've ended the night with a hot shower. The dryness of the region has made my hair dry really straight - probably the straightest it's ever been.
This morning started with our group going out first on the zodiac to hike around Mikkelson Harbor. We saw Weddell seals and more gentoo penguins. The island also had science equipment from Chile to record the weather and atmospheric changes. There was also an Argentinian Way Station where people can seek shelter in emergencies.
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| Weddell seals on the island. |
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| Penguins don't care if you're struggling to get to this Argentinean way station. |
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| Weather monitoring device the penguins have declared their own. |
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| Gentoo penguin walking out of the remains of an old wooden boat. |
S (the Russian naturalist) gave a presentation on ice and it's many kinds. C.C. and I were exhausted and nearly fell asleep during the presentation - which was interesting (C.C.'s new favorite phrase is "how interesting").
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| I thought this one looked like a monster asking for a hug. |
We sate with W.A.R, Su, and SN at lunch. I again had a sandwich with salad. We talked a bit about LGBTQIA+ history. Su had gone to Virginia Tech and were part of the Denim Protest. The LGBT+ alliance and allies wore denim in solidarity for gay rights during a week in January 1979. At the time, the school and community retaliated against the students. Virginia Tech recently celebrated the 45th anniversary.
W also mentioned that he went to Brigham Young University. Apparently, anyone caught breaking the university rules were called in for disciplinary action. W said he was called in a handful of times after being caught by the Salt Lake City police with another guy. They hadn't been doing anything, just sitting, but that was enough to get them in trouble.
I took an hour long nap after lunch. It was much needed.
We entered a bay around 14:00, while I was still sleeping, and whales were spotted. I woke up around 14:30 to the announcement that a leopard seal had been spotted on floating ice. I got a ton of pictures (including the colloquially called "s4!t chicken" - I really need to get it's real name again*).
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| No fear of humans whatsoever. |
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| Leopard seals aren't dangerous to penguins on land, but they are terrifying to see up close. |
Nearing our end time in the bay, a woman near me spotted a humpback whale fin. He hovered near the surface for a while before diving a deep dive and I saw the flap of the tail.
D and I sat together at tea time discussing the photos he got and my identification of different objects in sea ice shapes. We both plan to enter the ice shape photo competition.
C.C. had to skip the lecture on photo journalism with a National Geographic photographer. The woman who hosted spent four years with the Sami people in Finland and Sweden. For her next story, she spent two years interviewing and photographing Native American horse culture in the U.S. and Canada.
I managed to catch the end of the today's recap - though I sadly missed the undersea lecture. C.C. signed us up for the first kayaking group in the morning.
At dinner, we sat with Da and Mk from Cincinnati, Ohio. Da has been wearing a Hadestown hat, which is how I recognized him. Mk is a retired marketing manager and Da is retired from managing health care practices - he's not a doctor, but an admin. We talked quite a bit about my work in health policy.
Until the next one.
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*I never did relearn or write down the proper name for these birds, but a Google search tells me they are Pink-faced Sheathbill. S4!t chicken is much more memorable.
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