Cuverville Island / Neko Harbour
Of all the days to be thankful for, this is certainly one of them. After an invigorating day at Deception Island we awoke to the antithesis of yesterday’s blizzard-like conditions: tranquility and sun. From first light the seas have been calm and the scenery stunning. We have finally entered the land of perpetual ice and every direction is a product of year-round snowfall. Glacial ice drips from every mountain, ridgeline, and island, creating a continuous blanket of rounded edges and tinges of blue.
Our first exposure to this wonderland of white came at 9 a.m. this morning when we started operations at Cuverville Island. On the eastern edge of the Gerlache Strait, Cuverville is known for its large Gentoo penguin colony and extensive iceberg graveyard. Ushered in by the prevailing westerly’s and captured by shallow waters, the ice that settles around the island is extensive and dynamically sculpted. From tabular icebergs to tiny bits of brash ice, the scale is as varied as the weather – and the weather experienced today was exceptional. Zodiac cruises through this labyrinth of ice followed or preceded a venture ashore to share time with penguins or venture uphill for a better vantage point above the spectacle of sea and snow and ice and sun.
Pulling ourselves from the perfection of Cuverville, we pushed further east towards the peninsula proper with our sights set on the continent. At a place called Neko Harbour we found what we were after. With the captain able to bow National Geographic Explorer onto the continental shelf itself, everyone from crew to guest had the chance to claim a slice of the mainland this afternoon. Some experienced it from the confines of the ship while others plodded through crusty snow to heights well above the icebergs and penguins below. From our west-facing vantage point we could see over the extent of Alvord Bay across to the cloud-enshrouded base of the peninsula’s tallest peak, Mt. Frances, and towards the adventures that await us tomorrow in this land of black and white.
