Thurs., 12/27/12 - Antarctic Peninsula
This was a very busy day. We made three zodiac landings beginning at 8 AM when we rode the zodiacs to the beach at Neko Harbor in Andvord Bay. This was our first landing on the actual Antarctic continent. This is a boulder strewn sandy beach with large gentoo colonies and impressive glaciers. We walked down the beach to look at a resting Weddell seal. He just lay there and since he doesn't eat penguins (only the leopard seals do) the penguins ignored him. We have seen penguins incubating their eggs and seen some eggs when the sitter stands up to rearrange her/himself, but we have not seen any chicks yet. The males and females take turns sitting on the eggs. We joined the group that hiked up the snow on a hill to get a wonderful view of Neko Harbor, the icebergs and glaciers, and the steep rocky peaks. Some of our group of hardy (foolhardy?) souls striped to their bathing suits and took a dip. Far too cold for us!! We had our picture taken with a banner saying we were in Antarctica on our seventh continent!
Pictures marked with an * were taken by members of the Corinthian II Expedition Staff.
Next stop was at Port Lockroy, an historic research station on Goudier Island that now is restored and maintained by the British Antarctic Heritage Trust. During WWII this protected harbor was used to watch for German ships passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific or to refuel German submarines. In their boredom (no German ships) they invited scientists to Port Lockroy to do research on various geological topics.
We were fortunate to be invited onto the island and to see the "museum," the restored Bransfield House, and to visit the store that supports the Trust. There is also an active British post office at Post Lockroy. It is obviously the southernmost post office in the world and post cards are sent to the Falkland Islands by any available ship and then finally to the UK. A card could take six months to arrive in the States.
Location of Port Lockroy*
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Heading for Port Lockroy
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Love the colors! |
Port Lockroy on Goudier Island
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Port Lockroy signs |
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Port Lockroy on Goudier Island
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Old sled |
Snowy or Pale-faced Sheathbill
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Gentoo penguins - one on an egg |
Gentoo penguins - he is complaining about something! |
Before returning to the ship we went in the zodiac to look at blue-eyed shags nesting on Jougla Point on Wiencke Island. There was too much ice in the water to land and walk on the island. Shags look like cousins of the penguins (also nesting on this island), but the shags can fly.
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Blue-eyed shags on Wiencke Island |
Leaving Port Lockroy - another ship and lots of ice in the harbor
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Dinner was a buffet beginning at 9 PM. It was a very long, but special, day. Since we are so far south and it is summertime here, we have daylight all day and all night. The sun sets around midnight or just after and rises again at 2 AM.
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