On an Antarctica cruise, they take you from ship to shore on zodiac boats, which are rubber boats with motors on them, and they hold about 12 people. The first day we stepped on Antarctica soil was incredibly exciting for me and Amanda, and we didn’t think anything could top it. We saw cute (and not so cute) penguins waddle around, and some even came right up to us to check us out. We soaked in as much of the calming scenery as possible, well aware of this once in a lifetime experience. When our group’s hour on land was up, we started piling into a zodiac to return to the cruise ship. As we zipped back towards the ship, we noticed a couple of zodiacs were stopped in the water. They were on their way to pick up people, so they were empty except for the drivers. Knowing something interesting was going on, our driver turned off his engine as well. Then we saw it. A minke whale swimming around near the other two zodiac boats. We all watched in awe, trying to take pictures but usually we weren’t quick enough. After a few minutes, we saw the whale swimming our direction. I watched in amazement and continued taking badly timed pictures, while Amanda was still thinking clearly enough to turn on the video function on her camera. Our once in a lifetime experience just magnified. Out of about 350 passengers, somehow we were in a group of just 12 who got to witness this event. The following is a short frantic clip of the whale swimming under our zodiac. I can’t confirm or deny if I am one of the girly squeals.
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Tags: Antarctica cruise, minke whale
you guys sound excited in the video, i cant believe you actually got a chance to see a minke whale so close. you are very lucky
Thanks! It really was so incredibly exciting!
OMG WOW, that is so awesome & crazy!!! I can just imagine the experience. I also love that you say “cust & not so cute penguins” ja ja thats just too funny~
Ha! Thanks! Some of the younger penguins couldn’t go in the water yet b/c they didn’t have their waterproof feathers yet, and they were dirty…with stuff besides dirt.
So cool!!! What an awesome video clip and to see that whale so close must have been just amazing.
Thanks Matt! It really was amazing, sometimes I still can’t believe I was actually there!
Wow, just wow. That’s amazing.
Thanks Mike!
this is so amazing, u booked a cruise? from where? insanely jealous!!!
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Thanks! The cruise was 2 weeks, started in Valparaiso, Chile & ended in Ushuaia, Argentina. It really was amazing!
[...] off in the distance, but the best was when we were in the zodiac going back to the ship and a minke whale swam under our zodiac. Absolutely amazing [...]