Antarctica
Today was our first full day of exploring in Antarctica. Soon after breakfast, we donned our gear for a landing and went ashore at Brown Bluff. The Continent! With only about 2% of Antarctica accessible, we were fortunate that the beach was free of ice and we were able to put our feet on the continent itself. Both gentoo and Adelie penguins greeted us as we set off along the cobble-strewn water’s edge. Hundreds of cape petrels fed and bathed just offshore. Robust skuas patrolled the skies above the penguin colonies, waiting to swoop in and snatch any egg left momentarily unattended. We passed much of the morning snapping photos, perhaps looking for new composition, or better light. And after a while, we found ourselves with time to just sit and watch penguins doing what they do. They stole stones from each other’s nests and delivered them to their mates. They threw their heads back and screeched in ecstatic displays. Pairs changed places on the nest, carefully passing an egg from one to another. And they marched to and from the sea.
Now that we’d met three different species, Karen’s afternoon lecture added to our knowledge of penguins. Mid-afternoon found us at anchor close to Paulet Island where we again went ashore and found great numbers of nesting Adelies. Perhaps the highlight of the visit to Paulet was in examining the remains of the stone hut built by Captain Larson and some of his party who were stranded here after their ship was crushed in the ice in 1903. They subsisted through a long winter on a diet of... penguins!
Today was our first full day of exploring in Antarctica. Soon after breakfast, we donned our gear for a landing and went ashore at Brown Bluff. The Continent! With only about 2% of Antarctica accessible, we were fortunate that the beach was free of ice and we were able to put our feet on the continent itself. Both gentoo and Adelie penguins greeted us as we set off along the cobble-strewn water’s edge. Hundreds of cape petrels fed and bathed just offshore. Robust skuas patrolled the skies above the penguin colonies, waiting to swoop in and snatch any egg left momentarily unattended. We passed much of the morning snapping photos, perhaps looking for new composition, or better light. And after a while, we found ourselves with time to just sit and watch penguins doing what they do. They stole stones from each other’s nests and delivered them to their mates. They threw their heads back and screeched in ecstatic displays. Pairs changed places on the nest, carefully passing an egg from one to another. And they marched to and from the sea.
Now that we’d met three different species, Karen’s afternoon lecture added to our knowledge of penguins. Mid-afternoon found us at anchor close to Paulet Island where we again went ashore and found great numbers of nesting Adelies. Perhaps the highlight of the visit to Paulet was in examining the remains of the stone hut built by Captain Larson and some of his party who were stranded here after their ship was crushed in the ice in 1903. They subsisted through a long winter on a diet of... penguins!
