The rugged beauty of the antarctic continent remains imprinted on our souls
On the third morning we awoke before sunrise. Off the back deck of the ship we could see the silhouette of the Antarctic coastline, and we could hear and just faintly see the mist of whale spouts in the dark behind the ship. It was a dark, overcast, blustery morning, but as the light increased we began to get our first clear views of the Antarctic Peninsula. The slate-grey rocky shoreline of Petermann Island had a dusting of fresh snow and the highlands were a mix of rock, snow and ice. Through the telephoto lens and with our binoculars we could make out groups of penguins all along the shoreline, as well as an occasional humpback whale cruising along the shore.
Up-close and personal encounters with penguins
Port Charcot & Pléneau Bay. Port Charcot on Booth Island was our first zodiac landing and our first up-close and personal encounters with gentoo penguins and Antarctic fur seals. We also saw one of only two adelie penguins that our group would see on the trip. The Antarctic Treaty limits the number of visitors ashore at any time to 100; therefore, the 135 guests on our ship rotated between zodiac landings ashore and zodiac cruising of Plenéau Bay. The bay is an iceberg graveyard and is filled with ancient ice and icebergs that have run aground in the shallow waters of the bay. The eroding icebergs were some of the most beautiful ice formations that we saw.
rugged beauty of the mountainous Antarctic coastline
Wilhelmina Bay. High winds prevented any zodiac operations on our second day along the Antarctic Peninsula, so unfortunately two landings were cancelled. You have no control over the weather or the wildlife, so flexibility is the name of the game in Antarctic travel. The captain and expedition leader did their best to make up for the disrupted itinerary. While the ship made its way into the krill-rich waters of Wilhelmina Bay in search of whales, the captain organized tours of the ship’s bridge. Traditionally, on expedition-style cruises, the ship’s bridge is usually open to guests; however, the pandemic changed this and the bridge was closed to guests so the ship’s crew could remain inside their own protective “bubble”. As this was the last cruise of the season, the captain allowed us to visit the bridge in small groups (masked up and heavily sanitized).
Amazing landscapes and wildlife
Despite the weather we spent as much time as possible on deck, watching the amazing landscape and wildlife. We saw many humpback whales, an elephant seal, porpoising gentoo penguins and even a pod of orcas. When the weather permitted I managed to grab a few snapshots in an attempt to capture the rugged beauty of the mountainous Antarctic coastline.
A leopard seal quickly captured one of the young penguins
Cierva Cove. The following day, despite the waves and swells, we were able to board the zodiacs and cruise through the brash ice along the rocky shoreline of Cierva Cove. At the end of the cove a massive glacier sheds its ice into the sea creating large and small icebergs. As we cruised closer to the shore line we observed our first chinstrap penguin colony of the trip on a steep craggy island. On the mainland, adjacent to the red wooden structures of an Argentine summer research station, was a large gentoo penguin colony. We were very fortunate to witness a large group of young gentoo penguins rushing into the crashing waves. Cruising under the waves was a leopard seal that quickly captured one of the young penguins. While we were hopeful that we would see leopard seals on this trip, we never expected to see them killing and eating penguins. With it being the end of summer many inexperienced penguin chicks were venturing out into the water, so this was a scene we would witness several times. Leopard seals can eat up to 20 penguins a day. Once they have caught a penguin they thrash their heads above water to deglove the penguin and expose its flesh. The leopard seals were curious creatures and would come up quite close to the zodiacs.
It was a spectacular day with great weather, amazing views and more awesome wildlife encounters
South Shetland Islands. Our last full day along the Antarctic Peninsula was spent in the South Shetland Islands with zodiac cruising, paddling in inflatable kayaks and landings on Half Moon Island and Yankee Harbour. It was a spectacular day with great weather, amazing views and more awesome wildlife encounters. We visited chinstrap penguin and gentoo penguin colonies, saw Antarctic fur seals, elephant seals and, of course, more leopard seals feeding on penguins. Before pulling up the anchor we and 83 other guests participated in the “Polar Plunge”. The water temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius and the air temperature was a balmy 3 degrees. It was amazing! We can now state that in addition to visiting all seven continents, we have also been in all the oceans on this planet. As a beautiful bright yellow sunset transitioned in shades of purple the ship began sailing north out of the South Shetland Islands and into the open waters of Drake Passage for our two-day crossing back to Ushuaia.
Sunset purple sunset yellow
We highly recommend taking an adventure to Antarctica
This trip was our number one bucket list item; we were not disappointed and the rugged beauty of the antarctic continent remains imprinted on our souls. We highly recommend taking an adventure to Antarctica. With over 40,000 visitors a year, there are many Antarctica tour operators to choose from. Following the recommendation of the head guide on one of our previous adventures, we chose to go with Quark Expeditions and were extremely happy with our choice and would use them again. With out a doubt it was “a trip of a lifetime”.
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