#midlifegapyear

[markvogler]

OMG! I almost dropped my mac when I saw this! On #Stranded Day 26 Pantropical Dolphins appeared. I started firing off shots but they are SO FAST I didn’t think I got anything useful. As I started downloading from my @canonusa 6D last night and this capture jumped out, of a mother and calf (baby) speeding up the port side to bow ride! You can actually see the stack of the ship in the wet reflection on mom’s flank! #beardedhomo #midlifegapyear https://www.instagram.com/p/B_fcLrkhAmW/?igshid=1vvijcut1owft

[markvogler]

I’m super jet-lagged and was not going to post today but since it’s #worldpeguinday... Mid February, as we headed to New Zealand from the Ross Sea, #Antarctica we stopped at the Snares Islands, one of the highly protected NZ Sub-Antarctic islands. Going ashore is not allowed so we launched the zodiacs for a cruise and found two of some of the rarest penguins on earth, together! The Snares Penguin, left, breeds on the island, and has an endangered population of ~25,000 breeding pairs. Just seeing these is an incredibly rare opportunity. Then the one in the right comes out of the water and joins the colony - a transient NZ Fjordland Penguin, far from home, is endemic to the New Zealand’s south island fjords and has a tiny population of only about 2,500 left in the world!! #Amazaballs #beardedhomo #midlifegapyear (at Snares Islands / Tini Heke) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_bDxFhBROf/?igshid=1h9jkeiuzaapb

[markvogler]

#Homeward - #Woah! Check out this oceanic vortex over the marginal sea ice zone off South East #Greenland! #beardedhomo #midlifegapyear https://www.instagram.com/p/B_YUohGhnY9/?igshid=1j50x8kgo0iyi

[markvogler]

#Homeward - #EPIC day in Northern #Iceland! #beardedhomo #midlifegapyear (at Iceland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Xr6mGh8no/?igshid=102eeih6uju93

[markvogler]

#Homeward - It’s like having my very own jet! But sadly, a 777-300 holds 550 passengers. There are 24 on my flight. 😱 While nice, it’s not sustainable. #beardedhomo #midlifegapyear (at 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_XlJpMBjI_/?igshid=1qm67r5mc44wf

[markvogler]

Friday afternoon at Schiphol Airport #Amsterdam. I’m not complaining. #beardedhomo #midlifegapyear (at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_XSV1RhtKY/?igshid=xn4moltjdx9g

[markvogler]

#Stranded No More - This morning we were allowed to disembark. At 6am I was issued survival gear and stepped of the ship for the first time to begin the long journey home, in an alternate world than the one I left. I think I have no idea what I’m in for. #beardedhomo #midlifegapyear https://www.instagram.com/p/B_W7RibBr3L/?igshid=1glknkshu3wio

[markvogler]

#Stranded Day 36 Update - After an unexpected detour around the world, sailing 23,724 miles from west to east and south to north, through 4 hemispheres, crossing the Intl dateline twice, up the coasts of 4 continents, across 2 tropics, through 15 timezones, many Groundhog Days and surviving a good hazing at the Equator by King Neptune, Ortelius’d engines have been shut down and we are tied up behind Hondius, our sister ship I spent last summer in the Arctic on, at the pier in Hansweert, The Netherlands. It is accomplished and I’m celebrating with Mom’s last peanut butter cookie she stowed in my bag in January. I’m almost home... #nomnom #mommasboy #beardedhomo #Midlifegapyear (at Hansweert, Zeeland, Netherlands) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_VMMkoh7tx/?igshid=kdv9l9aosiph