Staten Island is in an area notorious for strong winds and generally bad weather, which made our day all the more special. In the morning we had some wind and a few drops of rain which cleared to give a really beautiful and dramatic landscape to Zodiac cruise into, through a relatively narrow channel before landing on a sandy beach and splashing ashore. Many then hiked to see some rockhopper penguins.
By noon we were all back onboard and heading to our next destination –Captain Canepa Bay. This was at the end of a really beautiful fjord with steep granite cliffs, small birch forests on the slopes and geese and karakara hopping along this shore. The afternoon activity for most was a Zodiac cruise, cruising around the bay the ship sailed into as well as several branching off from it – incredible views!
So what were the dive team doing? They were off in the morning and afternoon exploring Staten Island’s incredible underwater life. From the two dives it was clear that Staten Island has an incredibly rich diversity of marine life and in such a vast array of colors. We also saw the largest limpets and chitins I have ever seen. During the second dive I spotted several basket stars – a sea star with long, branching, sticky legs which are used to catch small planktonic organisms from the water column as they drift by.
