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Antarctica and South Shetland Islands
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5 December 2007 | ||
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During my first visit three years ago I was astounded by the immense beauty of Antarctica so on this trip I was quite trepidatious, thinking that perhaps that I had over-estimated it and that this time I would be disappointed. Happily my worries were all for nothing and it was as good as I could have hoped. This time we came south from South Georgia and given the very calm seas we made an attempt to make a rare stop at Elephant Island but were unfortunately stymied by a dense fog which made any landing impossible. Out first stop was at Half Moon Island which I visited under similarly snowy conditions on the previous voyage and spent some hours with the quirky Chinstrap Penguins and young Weddel Seal, before heading off to Deception Island, one of the most typical stops on any Antarctic itinerary. Despite this stop being not the most interesting, I did find the various graves of Norwegian whalers quite haunting, and spent some time with three Gentoo Penguins wandering around amidst the black volcanic soil Although whales are often a big draw in the frigid waters south of the Antarctic Convergence, early in the season they are much rarer so we were very happy to find a pair of Humpback Whales feeding on Krill in the Bransfield Strait. As they cavorted and dived, the waters literally frothed with the red of Krill, nearly looking like blood. A bit spooky Another of the wonders is the fantastic blue of the old bergs and at Portal Point in the Gerlache Strait and at Danco Islandwe had some spectacular examples – often the deepest of blues mingled with the pure white of the snow and cold of the water. And at Portal Point I saw the first of three individual Adelie Penguins that I had the great good fortune to see during this trip, this one sitting quietly alone atop a massive iceberg. Adelies are the prototypical penguin, the one that nearly all people recognize, but are also among the rarest ones to see as they often live deep amidst the ice. So good fortune indeed. Danco Island itself was amazing for three completely different reasons. Firstly I spent more than a couple of hours watching troop after troop of Gentoos dive off a lip of ice six feet down to the sea. They would often congregate and prevaricate and hesitate for ages before one would suddenly take the leap, causing up to 10 of his cousins to quickly follow. And a little while later I understood their hesitation a little better. As I headed back to the zodiacs I saw a great commotion just out to sea - a Leopard Seal had caught a Gentoo and was making sport with it, all within feet of one of our Zodiacs full up with people returning to the ship. I would have given my eye-teeth to have been on the boat taking pictures and for the next couple of hours I have to admit that I was quite despondent. But the final event of the event caused a radical mood shift. This was the night we were camping outside. Yes, outside with only a tent and a sleeping bag to keep us warm. I have to admit that I have had more comfortable nights, but never in such a spectacular setting. Our final two stops were at Port Lockroy, the site of a British base and the interestingly named Useful Island, before we headed out into the Drake Lake (much rather that than the Drake Shake). | ||
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Current Comments1 comment so far (post your own)
Dear Per-Gunnar, Posted by Bobbi Hamilton on  |
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