Our ship spent the sunny afternoon of 7 March in Godthul Bay. It was calm and clear, so they pulled out the kayaks and allowed us to roam (in pairs) around the bay. It was entrancing to simply park within the kelp forest and watch the fur seal pups frolicking – and they were as curious about us as we were about them! I highly encourage you to take three minutes to enjoy this video of the fur seals; for you, as for me, patience will pay off. You can almost imagine them, just like human children, daring each other to touch the kayak paddle!
I shot this video by holding my iPhone XR off the side of the kayak, inches above the water… and sometimes below the water. The audio sometimes cuts out, because water had clogged the microphone ports. When underwater, I could not see what I was filming… it was a dunk-and-pray operation. It’s amazing what you can do with an iPhone… just don’t drop it!
After return to the ship, they offered us an opportunity for a “polar plunge”; because I’d missed my opportunity at Dartmouth, I took the plunge! I can confirm that this glacier-fed water was quite chilly indeed.
Check out the gallery for the full-res photos and videos.
David Kotz 