2 posts tagged “adelie penguins”

The early morning started out as the previous day had ended but the weather soon picked up and by the time we had reached Brown Bluff on the East coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was blue. From afar, the site doesn’t look like much (the name is very descriptive, it’s a high cliff and rocks of brown volcanic material) but it’s in a bay with small icebergs and floating floes of sea ice that shone brilliantly in the morning sun. Fortunately, the landing site was clear so we could go out in the Polarcirkel boats. There were quite a few waves so we were splashed liberally with sea water (tasting salty but clean) which tested the splashproofness of my little Fuji Finepix (and apparently, it is splashproof despite not being advertised as such) but it was a warm day so we didn’t mind much.
The site hosts one of the biggest (if not the biggest) rookery of Adelie penguins and they were out in force indeed. There were some gentoo, too and very few Chinstraps but the “clowns of the Antarctic” had the biggest population. All along the beach, bits of sea ice formed quite an obstacle for the short-legged waddlers to get into and out from the water. This obviously was a lot of fun to watch and many of us couldn’t stop giggling at their antics. There were even some watershy ones. I watched a group of them going in and the last three went as far as getting their feet wet, went “Aak! Aak!” and turned around again…
Their chicks were quite big already, almost as tall as their parents but hardly recognisable as penguins for all the dark grey fluff.
We were also treated to a sight I had been waiting for: penguins sliding on the snow on their bellies, pushing themselves along with their feet. This mode of transport seemed to be a lot more efficient and also faster. They only get into trouble when they don’t realise there’s a stone in the way and they come to a sudden stop…
In the cliffs, various seagulls and cape petrels circled but unfortunately they didn’t come close enough (and we weren’t permitted to go closer to the rocks) to get a good picture. Still, the sight and the memories prevail.
When we were back at the ship we spotted a few leopard seals on the shore to the left of the landing site but they were really far away.

We then waved good-bye to Brown Bluff around midday and set course for the Antarctic Sound again.
During the afternoon we passed various groups of shelf icebergs and then hit thick fog, so I used the downtime to take a nap.

The further North our course let us, the rougher the sea got and by dinner time, it was quite tricky to walk in a straight line but despite the rough sea, the weather still held and we had a wonderful sunset over the Drake Passage again.
Just to be on the safe side, I took a seasickness pill but I don’t think it would have been necessary.

We visited Arctowski, a Polish research station in Admiralty Bay of King George Island. Not far from the landing site, we were welcomed by a Chinstrap Penguin and a few metres on a young Sea Elephant was dozing away and even yawned at me as I took a few pics. There were Adelie (most of them) and Gentoo Penguins, too and they were just utterly cute. On my way back to the landing site I got "trapped" between two groups of penguins and had to wait for five minutes until they had waddled on. Wonderful. Got a badge from the "souvenir shop" and I intend to do so at the other stations we visit so they will make up for the missing print on the jacket.
I'm also glad I put on all those clothes (long underwear, shirt, fleece, windbreaker jacket, lined trousers, hat and hood) as it is rather cold down here, especially with the windchill.

The journey to our next destination was quiet but foggy so not very interesting which meant I found some time to write almost all of the postcards I intend to send from Port Lockroy tomorrow.

The ship stopped at Greenwich Island, specifically Yankee Harbour at around 16:00 and the first boat group went out half an hour later. The landing was wetter than the first one as you had to wade through some water (just shy of the top of my rubber boots) but it was no problem at all.

The island was host to three colonies of Gentoo Penguins and a family of seals who were sleeping by the beach. Many of the penguins had chicks, some older, some very young and it was wonderful to watch their behaviour, feeding the chicks, fighting each other, fighting the always present and ready Skua or just wandering back and forth to the sea. There was a lonesome Chinstrap penguin, too who looked a bit lost amongst all the Gentoo. The various types of penguins share living space but they don't interbreed.

All in all, a truly awesome day. It's been building up constantly and if this was just a taster for things to come we're really in for a treat.