St. Andrews Bay, South Georgia Island
Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falklands, November 30, 2021
Who’s watching who? King penguins stand tall against the ice-cloaked mountains at St. Andrews Bay. —Ralph Lee Hopkins, National Geographic Photographer
Godthul, South Georgia Island
Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falklands, December 1, 2021
Gentoo penguins swimming in glassy seas. —Mike Greenfelder, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
Drygalski Fjord, South Georgia Island
Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falklands, December 2, 2021
Roosting snow petrel. These little petrels are remarkable creatures. One of their fun facts is that they love roosting on ice. Sometimes they make very big meetings on the huge tabular icebergs! —Javier Cotin, Naturalist
Elsehul, South Georgia Island
Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falklands, December 2, 2021
The chaos of a macaroni penguin colony is found over 100 feet above the shoreline, requiring agility over the steep cliffs that doesn’t seem to fit the penguins’ anatomical design.—Jill Niederberger, Naturalist
North Seymour Island, Galápagos
Wild Galápagos Escape, December 6, 2021
On North Seymour Island, there is a perennial frigate bird colony. We observed a couple of magnificent frigate birds at a short distance from the trail performing a beautiful nature show. They were grooming each other, bonding their relationship. —Carlos Romero, Expedition Leader
Bleaker Island, Falkland Islands
A recently hatched rockhopper chick seeks out a meal from the attending parent.—Doug Gualtieri, Naturalist
Carcass Island, Falkland Islands
Antarctica, South Georgia & the Falklands, December 6, 2021
The striated caracaras are in great abundance here in the Falkland Islands. They are ready to take advantage of any unsuspecting prey. —Steve Morello, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
New Island, Falkland Islands
Antarctica, South Georgia & the Falklands, December 7, 2021
Nesting imperial cormorant showing its vibrant breeding colors. —Mike Greenfelder, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
Fernandina Island, Galápagos
Wild Galápagos Escape, December 7, 2021
A Galapagos hawk perching on a rock with a recently caught baby iguana on its claws in front of the National Geographic Islander. —Ramiro Adrian, Naturalist
Westpoint Island, Falkland Islands
Wild Galápagos Escape, December 7, 2021
We arrived at Westpoint Island just after breakfast to discover that we are the first ship visitors to this island since the pandemic began. The two caretakers were very happy to see us. We hiked across the island to reach the famous black-browed albatross colony. After watching these albatrosses at sea for nearly three weeks, it was a thrill to observe them up close, to listen to their calls, and to observe their nesting behaviour. There are many eggs in the colony! —Jenny Kingsley, National Geographic Explorer
