We had a great start to our Falkland Islands expedition today! The winds were low and the sun was shining–sunscreen and sunglasses were a must! We made our first landing at Saunders Bay where we saw two new species of penguins–rockhopper and Magellanic. The white sand beaches looked stunning against the turquoise water, a stark contrast to what we have seen on our expedition thus far. In the afternoon, we landed on Carcass Island, named after the HMS Carcass. We had the opportunity to walk up Jason Hill. It was nice to get out and be active after our days at sea. This island has diverse vegetation and an abundance of birds! Caracaras, gentoo penguins, Magellanic penguins, skuas, imperial shags, rock shags, kelp geese, ruddy-head geese, upland geese, blackish oystercatchers, Magellanic oystercatchers, cobb’s wrens, tussacbirds, and more. What a day. And what a time to be alive.
11/14/2024
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National Geographic Explorer
Elephant Island
This morning National Geographic Explorer arrived at Antarctica after a calm crossing of the Scotia Sea from South Georgia. At 6am, our expedition leader announced that we had arrived at the iconic location of Shackleton’s epic Elephant Island. The majority of adventurous souls on board headed for the bow or bridge to see Point Wild. For Shackleton’s men this was the first time in sixteen months they had been on land. After the Endurance sank, they spent 5.5 months camping on the ice and seven days in their rowboats to Cape Valentine. Realizing that beach was no safe-haven, Frank Wild took one of the lifeboats to seek a safer camp and found Point Wild, which was a miserable place. From the bow we could see the monument of Captain Pardo, commander of the Yelcho, which rescued the 22 men after Shackleton found help on South Georgia. A blustery day (gusts of 40 knots) around the island did not allow for a Zodiac cruise but we continued around the coast of Elephant Island and checked out Cape Valentine and Cape Lookout before heading across the Bransfield Strait to the Antarctic Peninsula.