Lisa Trapp, 2011 Antarctica student blogger, writes:

December 23, 2011 continued

So what happened with the two minke whales playing games with us? Well, our decision to continue watching them or move elsewhere was made easy when these whales decided not to resurface again near us.

We finally made our way over to the ice flow with the leopard seal. Stretched out and basking in the sunshine, the seal even had its eyes closed. We drifted around slowly and I tried to find the perfect balance between taking photos and enjoying it in person. I had seen pictures and knew what to expect, but just like the continent itself, the leopard seal was so much more than I ever would have expected.

As we circled the ice flow, I found myself practically face-to-face with the large beast. I suddenly hoped very much that it would not choose that moment to wake up. But I only had a brief moment of uncertainty before we were whisking away from there and back toward the ship, moving so quickly it was hard to believe we were even touching the water. I couldn’t imagine the day getting any more perfect than it had already started, but it wasn’t even half over and I still had a lot of surprises.

Lunch on board that day was a delicious American-style cookout, complete with burgers, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and watermelon all eaten outside on deck. To soothe the chilly nip in the air, lunch was offered with optional complimentary mulled wine for those of us of drinking age. I loaded up my plate and sat at a linen-covered table and gazed out at the mountains. I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time, especially when I took a bite out of the burger!

If someone had told me a year ago that I would have been sitting in a scarf and sweatshirt eating a burger on the bow of a ship in Antarctica, I would never have believed them. The staff gave us plenty of time to eat and even left everything out as long as they could before the ship started heading toward our next destination. It would take a few hours but as with everything else that day, it would end up being perfect.

Upon arrival at our next destination, we loaded up the zodiacs and drifted through “Iceberg Alley” before pulling up on shore next to a gentoo penguin rookery. The rotund birds were waddling around, preening themselves, jumping in and out of the water, porpoising between the icebergs, and sitting on their rock nests calling in the air. As I stepped off the zodiac I couldn’t believe how hot the sun felt and I dumped my life vest and jacket into a pile, and switched my winter hat out for my baseball cap. I couldn’t keep myself from just grinning.

There were literally penguins everywhere. I stepped gingerly across the rocks, careful not to slip and fall, or scare any of the comical birds away. I had barely gotten a few feet away before I couldn’t resist any longer and began snapping photos of the little footballs with legs. I wandered over to the rookery and watched happily as a female stretched up and revealed a small gray egg. She pruned and stretched for a while before settling back down, hiding the egg from sight once more.

After some time, I finally sat down on the rocks not far from the water’s edge and watched the penguins. Several clumped together and went out into the water. Others came back from a dip looking clean and refreshed. One sat on an iceberg and picked at the ice. I watched this one shift from side to side on the floating ice, wobbling the side every now and then and thought about how perfect the day had been. I leaned back a bit, rolled up my sleeves and reveled in the feeling of the warm sun on my face and arms with the sound of penguin calls rolling through my ears.