Antarctica, the name itself is wonderful. A name assigned to the seventh continent before anyone had even known if it actually existed or where it might be (the Ancient Greeks reasoned that, if there is the Arctic, there must be its direct opposite).
We started our journey eastwards through the Beagle Channel on the evening of the 9th of February. About midnight we reached the dreaded Drake Passage. This thousand kilometer long stretch of water can be one of the roughest in the world to cross but we were blest with swells of two to three meters and winds of about thirty kilometers per hour. It took two days to cross and the second day was even calmer than the first.
We awoke on the morning of the 12th anchored in Paradise Harbour where we got our first views of the frozen continent. A Zodiac trip allowed us to explore the water around the Skontorp Glacier but we had to wait until that afternoon to set foot on Antarctica for the first time at Danco Island. The next morning we found ourselves in the beautiful Lemaire Channel on our way to a walk on Pleaneau Island. In the afternoon we Zodiaced around the Yalour Islands, our most southerly point, before heading back up the Lemaire Channel. The next morning we had a walk around the small British base at Damon Point while in the afternoon we were able to land at the defunct British base at Port Lockroy. The base is maintained by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. It has the most southerly post office in the world and is "manned" by volunteers over the tourisst season (the current volunteers are four young women). The last morning in Antarctica was spent at Foyn Harbour, an old whaling station while we got to have a walk on the Antarctic mainland at Portal Point in the afternoon.
Then it was another two days of heading back to Ushuaia across the Drake Passage which was once again behaving more like Drake Lake. In fact the weather on our trip was so good that it was the first one this season that Intrepid, the guiding company that charters the ship, had been able to fulfill all possible outings in the Zodiacs.
While our motivation for going to Antarctica was to experience its wildlife, it particular its birds, we soon found out that we were very much the minority amongst the other passengers. Everyone had their reasons for being there but we made sure that we made the most of our time aboard and ashore. I doubt if there were any other passengers who spent more time on deck taking in what nature has to show us than Leigh and I. Fortunately for us, the only controls Intrepid implemented on the shore trips were to ensure that the maximum number of people ashore was adhered to. This meant Leigh and I were able to wait until the last minute to catch a Zodiac back to the ship and stretch our time ashore to as long as possible.
However, it wasn't all work and no play. We were still able to spend a lot of time socializing, mostly with Tim and Jo and two Swiss couples. There was also Valentine's Day that needed to be celebrated and we gave the last night on board a full go (something that meant the first day back in Ushuaia was a bit of a wipeout).
I started this journal entry trying to describe each of the nine days as they unfolded but soon realised that I wasn't getting it right. So all I can offer are the photos and snippets of information that, to some extent, encapsulate our memories of the journey there and back and the four wonderful days on the Antarctic Peninsular. They are neither always in chronological order nor always grouped logically but hopefully they give a feel for what Antarctica has to offer.
All outings from the boat started with a ride in a Zodiac. Sometimes we would just cruise around but on five of the outings we were able to wander around in demarcated areas on land.
Sometimes the ship would be anchored while we were out on the Zodiacs but occasionally it would have to keep the engines running because of there being no suitable place to anchor.
In retrospect I regret not having done the Polar Plunge, a carefully controlled dip in the Southern Ocean, but we made up for it by having a swim in the ship's pool with Tim and Jo on our last day.
A section of the bridge was open to passengers for most of the trip. It was a good place from which to bird and we used it whenever we got too cold while birding out on deck. Most of the time we were the only passengers there.
Soon followed by Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys). These would be around most days while in the Beagle Channel and the Drake Passage as would the Giant Petrels below.
Northern Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli). The key to separating them from their Southern cousins is their bill tip is reddish as opposed to light-greenish.
A bird we were almost guaranteed to see, Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans). I am guessing this is a sub-adult female. At this time of the year the majority of mature birds might still be at their breeding grounds on various subantarctic islands.
A younger Wanderer showing traces of its darker immature plumage. Wanderers start off almost completely dark and whiten with age with old males being almost completely white. The moult patterns have been well studied and experienced birders can accurately tell the age of most birds.
One of our target birds that we were guaranteed to see was Snowy Sheathbill (Chionis albus). The scientific name means Snow White and given the ugly pink warts on its face it could well be Snow White and the Seven Warts.
They are also known as turd-burglars because, apart from anything else they can get their bills around, they also eat penguin poo. Their efficient digestive tracts are able to extract the unused nutrients from other birds faeces.
We were able to spend lots of time on shore with the Gentoo Penguins but had to keep a distance of at least five meters between ourselves and them. This gap was increased to fifteen meters for breeding and moulting birds. In addition, because of the bird flu epidemic in Europe, we were not allowed to crouch to take photos nor allow anything apart from our disinfected boots to touch the ground or snow.
Gentoo Penguins make their nests of small stones on bare rock. Because of late heavy snow this summer, only the strongest birds are able to reach the higher rocky outcrops that get exposed by the summer melt first. This means that the majority of birds had to delay egg laying until it was too late for them to get the chicks to fledge and allow the parents to fatten up again in time to moult before they head out to sea for the last nine months of the year. The net result is that every Gentoo chick we saw is most likely going to become Skua food because it will be abandoned by its parents before it has fledged.
The parents alternate feeding and protecting the chick while the other forages within a few kilometers of the nest. When the foraging parent returns they duet for a few minutes before swapping roles.
Going out to feed is dangerous business because until they are in open water the penguins are at risk of predation by Leopard Seals. So they tend to leave in packs but jostle constantly so as not to be the first or last into the water because those are the riskiest positions.
South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki), one of the big predators of penguin chicks. They fulfill an important ecological role in the Antarctic by cleaning up weak or dead penguin chicks but, as kleptoparasites, they also get much of their food by harrasing terns and gulls who have just fed until they regurgitate their catch.
Subantarctic Skua (Catharacta antarctica) plays a similar role to that of its South Polar cousin. Many of the breeding pairs (possibly between ten and sixteen percent by some estimates) on the Antarctic Peninsular are mixed pairs consisting of a Subantarctic and a South Polar Skua so identifying Skuas here can be problematic.
Another bird whose classification is vexed. This is an Antarctic Shag (Leucocarbo bransfieldensis) which may or may not be conspecific with the Imperial Shag (Leucocarbo atriceps) depending on which authority one follows.
The first penguins we saw were some Chinstraps (Pygoscelis antarcticus) which we saw on the second day of the Drake Passage crossing. Don't say I didn't warn you that things wouldn't be in chronological order!
Wilson's Storm-Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), one of the birds that we saw almost every day. They are not the easiest to photograph unless one can get down to their height on the water. They are the origin of the name Petrel because their water-walking brings St Peter to mind.
Antarctic Terns (Sterna vittata) in breeding plumage were common throughout the four days in Antarctica. This one was agitated by the presence of a Snowy Sheathbill near its nest.
The first of the two days heading back to Ushuaia through the Drake Passage yielded some excellent sightings. Here are two Light-mantled Albatrosses (Phoebetria palpebrata) flying in tandem, something for which they are well known.
Prions are amongst the most difficult of birds to identify at sea. Fortunately, there were only three species that we would likely see and photographs make it a bit easier. This is a Slender-billed Prion (Pachyptila belcheri) which we were able to separate from Antarctic Prion by its facial pattern (broader, more prominant supercillium and narrow, less distinct black eye stripe - the clearly slender bill in this photo also helped :-)).
Antarctic Prions (Pachyptila desolata). These little petrels are fast and erratic fliers and are so difficult to photograph. I didn't try to focus but simply pointed the camera in their anticipated path with the focus manually set at a guessed at distance.
Cape or Pintado Petrels (Daption capense) were about in great numbers on the first day of the reurn journey. They were also a challenge to photograph from a moving ship. Even though the crossong was relatively calm the ship pitched and rolled quite dramatically all the time we were in the Drake Passage.
Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides). We picked these up as we were entering the Drake Passage on the return trip and they were around for most of the next day with the Pintados.
There were three petrels we were hoping to see, namely Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea), Atlantic Petrel (Pterodroma incerta) and Antarctic Petrel (Pachyptila desolata). We saw all three but I missed getting a shot of the first two. The third, the Antarctic, was the biggest prize because we had been warned that it wasn't likely that we would see one. Thank goodness I got a shot to prove that we did.
The seal we saw in greatest numbers were Weddell Seals (Leptonychotes weddellii). That said, we didn't see a lot of seals. While others saw Elephant Seals we dipped out on that species.
The majority of the whales seen were Humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae), a species with which we are quite familiar after living at Schoenmakerskop for many years. We had a glimpse of distant Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) although I can't claim to have seen them. A few fortunate passengers got to saw Orcas (Orcinus orca).
Of course we weren't the only visitors to Antarctica. Estimates are that more than a hundred thousand, that is five hundred times more than the number on our trip, will visit Antarctica this season. Some of them are on enormous cruise liners with more than a thousand passengers while others will be on much smaller craft.
Suzanne GibsonThanks for sharing! You got some spectacular bird shots. I'm not a birder but can imagine the thrill of these sightings. Your whole trip was an amazing adventure but this was certainly a highlight. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
Susan CarpenterFantastic photos. I especially appreciate the text explaining some of the identifying markings of different birds as well as various behavioral characteristics. Splendid! Reply to this comment 1 year ago
