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Secret blogs from the Antarctic animals

Penguins on Cuverville Island:

Our Chinstrap Penguin family is definitely fascinated by the human penguins. One day we were trying to to describe humans to our new-born chicks:

Papa Penguin: “Humans are strange and curious creatures!  They seem to take an interest in us but they always keep distance and they never touch us.”

Son Penguin: “How do humans look like, papa?”

Papa Penguin: “That’s easy son. They are always very colourful! Yellow, red, pink, green or poker dots on the body, usually with darker legs.  Their feet are huge though! I don’t like it when they make big holes in the snow….”

Mama Penguin: “They always have a thick red collar on their necks when they are at sea. As they come ashore and as soon as they land, they shed them quickly and put all their red collars in a big red half broken eggshell and throw them back at sea.  I think this is how they breed...”

Daughter Penguin: “Mama, what do humans do around our homes?”

Mama Penguin: “I think they are looking for food. They hang their beaks around their necks.  Their beaks are almost always black, and some are very long and can extend out. They stop every now and then, pick up their beaks, put it against their head and make a few clicking sound and then move on. I think they are pretty lousy at finding food though as I have never seen one catching fish. Even the ones with extendable and telescopic beaks don’t manage catch any fish! Your papa is much better than them!

The Minke whale in the LeMaire channel:

I am Margie, the teenage Minke whale. Today I saw the Bark Europa, I swam up to it, elusively surfaced, showed my sexy back a few times, heard a few camera clicks and then went home.  What a lovely day to be fab. My boring mom wasn’t so impressed by my social skills at all and said, “Margie, were you click-baiting again this morning?”  and then I said, “No mother! I didn’t give them a list of 22 best facts about whales and tell them the 5th is awesome and spot-on… I was just showing them my belly to get some ‘Likes’”. Hope I always stay this cool and not timid like those blue whales!

The Minke whale in the LeMaire channel, later that day:

Ah… it’s pretty cold out there today and it’s windy and snowing.  Let me surface a few times, disappear for a while, and come back again, and do it a few more times to keep these hapless humans in the cold wind…..

*grin* *evilsmile* *wink*

#freezingfingers #whalecooler #clickaway #givememorelikes #catchmeifyoucan

Haha, I hope my sexy belly is worth all the frozen off limbs! #iamevil #butonlysometimes

The Orcas:

Still drunk after New Year’s and did not submit any blog entry. Working week probably starts next year.  Keep waiting…

The Macaroni Penguins:

No sightings so far. Last time heard of – swimming in the Trevi fountain. Hopefully they are still alive and not Al dente.

Skuas

We have spotted a floating kindergarten on a tall ship. All they do is eat, go for a walk, then nap. We also heard that they are required to do as the teacher tells them, stay together and not get their feet wet. Now it’s potty time before another walk, oh no! Need to hide until they go out and start shouting - look, a bird! We are not just any other birds, we are the proud navigators of Antarctica!

The seals:

No blogs from them until further notice.  Currently lying in the sun doing nothing.  If only there was sun.

They nodded in agreement and went back to bed.

Written by:
Vivian Ho and Jelena Uljankina | Voyage crew

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