Erbus & Terror Gulf
There are days you never forget! Our first emperor penguin and landing on the continent.
Being on an expedition to Antarctica is going out and exploring and encountering new things on every outing with the knowledge that even if you have a plan you always have to play a game with weather, ice, swell and unexpected discoveries.
Today we came back to a place we found for the first time last voyage, Tay Head. Named after the Firth Tay in Scotland by Scottish whalers who came down to this part of the world to search for whales in the 1890’s. The landing is on the southern side of Joinville Island and houses a large colony of Adelie penguins and a large colony of Antarctic terns. As we arrived we found the beach already occupied by 100’s of fur seals.Immediately we spread around in small groups to explore the site. After a few minutes our expedition leader called over the radio. A very large “Adelie penguin” is standing on the glacier. It has to be investigated and as we suspected it turned out to be an emperor penguin. That is a treat!
The emperor penguin is unique as a bird, since it lives the whole life in or on water, either it stands on solid water, ice, or it feeds in liquid water. Even in Antarctica they are very hard to find and the population is estimated to about 200 000 breeding pairs.
To be in the Antarctica means an endless number of encounters with wildlife - seals, birds, whales. The key is always to give way to the animals and let them do what they do naturally. An approach to a fur seal has to be made very carefully. They will immediately tell you if you are too close. They are bitter fighters and the beaches around Antarctic Peninsula are now full of teenagers. Keep your distance! A good sign that the population is now recovering after the severe hunting almost 200 years ago.
As we sailed towards the continental landing at Brown Bluff, through Active Sound, several Minke whales were seen from the pool deck. Most of us spent the hours after lunch outside to enjoy splendid sunshine. Hard to believe you are in Antarctica.
Brown Bluff was our second outing for the day and for many the first step on the last continent. It is also home to a large colony of penguins. Maybe most of all one of the few places you can actually see a nest of the strikingly all white Snow petrel. As we toured back to the ship on Zodiacs we found an ice floe with eight Leopard seals. Well, a busy day with no wind but sunshine. It is hard to believe!
There are days you never forget! Our first emperor penguin and landing on the continent.
Being on an expedition to Antarctica is going out and exploring and encountering new things on every outing with the knowledge that even if you have a plan you always have to play a game with weather, ice, swell and unexpected discoveries.
Today we came back to a place we found for the first time last voyage, Tay Head. Named after the Firth Tay in Scotland by Scottish whalers who came down to this part of the world to search for whales in the 1890’s. The landing is on the southern side of Joinville Island and houses a large colony of Adelie penguins and a large colony of Antarctic terns. As we arrived we found the beach already occupied by 100’s of fur seals.Immediately we spread around in small groups to explore the site. After a few minutes our expedition leader called over the radio. A very large “Adelie penguin” is standing on the glacier. It has to be investigated and as we suspected it turned out to be an emperor penguin. That is a treat!
The emperor penguin is unique as a bird, since it lives the whole life in or on water, either it stands on solid water, ice, or it feeds in liquid water. Even in Antarctica they are very hard to find and the population is estimated to about 200 000 breeding pairs.
To be in the Antarctica means an endless number of encounters with wildlife - seals, birds, whales. The key is always to give way to the animals and let them do what they do naturally. An approach to a fur seal has to be made very carefully. They will immediately tell you if you are too close. They are bitter fighters and the beaches around Antarctic Peninsula are now full of teenagers. Keep your distance! A good sign that the population is now recovering after the severe hunting almost 200 years ago.
As we sailed towards the continental landing at Brown Bluff, through Active Sound, several Minke whales were seen from the pool deck. Most of us spent the hours after lunch outside to enjoy splendid sunshine. Hard to believe you are in Antarctica.
Brown Bluff was our second outing for the day and for many the first step on the last continent. It is also home to a large colony of penguins. Maybe most of all one of the few places you can actually see a nest of the strikingly all white Snow petrel. As we toured back to the ship on Zodiacs we found an ice floe with eight Leopard seals. Well, a busy day with no wind but sunshine. It is hard to believe!
