Erebus and Terror Gulf, Devil Island & Paulet Island
Oh the woes of expedition travel! Today we faced our first adversity after having sailed blissfully through the Drake with hardly a swell. Upon passing through Antarctic Sound in the early morning hours we found our path encumbered by, dramatic pause, ice and lots of it! Who would have imagined? The spectacular tabular bergs are a true marvel to behold but can usually be skirted around. However, the numerous smaller icebergs and bergy bits proved to be quite daunting to our efforts to make a landing on the continent itself. Of course, as anyone knows, our expedition leaders always have a back up plan, sometimes several, up their sleeves. So with that in mind, we snapped off some great photos of the wonderfully blue and white bergs as we made our way over to Devil Island in Erebus and Terror Gulf, where we were greeted by an estimated 20,000 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins. From the census our resident Oceanites researcher, Rosi Dagit, and her band of volunteers agreed upon, it was noted that there were almost three times as many successful breeders this year than in 2001, which is great news indeed. Rosi also had to place new stakes and record their GPS information for the foundation due to the burgeoning colony’s growth and recovery from a poor breeding season two years ago.
Afterwards, we made our way back through the gulf and the ice on our way to Paulet Island, home of the area’s largest colony of Adelies at around 200,000 breeding pairs. Those on deck briefly and fortunately interrupted our passage with a sighting of two leopard seals resting on an ice flow. These magnificent predators are second only to the orcas on the Antarctic food chain, and though their primary source of nourishment is krill, many a penguin has met an unfortunate end in their smiling jaws. Many thanks to Captain Karl Lampe and chief mate Hakan Gustafsson who deftly maneuvered the ship right alongside for everyone to get a close look before we continued on our way.
Upon arrival at Paulet, we really got a taste, or rather smell, of a truly successful breeding colony of Adelies. Steve MacLean also shared a bit of history on the Swedish South Polar Expedition, and the remains of the stone hut where they were forced to over-winter back in 1903. At that time, those who visited the white continent had to contend with far more adversity than do we on board the comfortably plush Endeavour. May tomorrow be as “terrible” as today!
Oh the woes of expedition travel! Today we faced our first adversity after having sailed blissfully through the Drake with hardly a swell. Upon passing through Antarctic Sound in the early morning hours we found our path encumbered by, dramatic pause, ice and lots of it! Who would have imagined? The spectacular tabular bergs are a true marvel to behold but can usually be skirted around. However, the numerous smaller icebergs and bergy bits proved to be quite daunting to our efforts to make a landing on the continent itself. Of course, as anyone knows, our expedition leaders always have a back up plan, sometimes several, up their sleeves. So with that in mind, we snapped off some great photos of the wonderfully blue and white bergs as we made our way over to Devil Island in Erebus and Terror Gulf, where we were greeted by an estimated 20,000 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins. From the census our resident Oceanites researcher, Rosi Dagit, and her band of volunteers agreed upon, it was noted that there were almost three times as many successful breeders this year than in 2001, which is great news indeed. Rosi also had to place new stakes and record their GPS information for the foundation due to the burgeoning colony’s growth and recovery from a poor breeding season two years ago.
Afterwards, we made our way back through the gulf and the ice on our way to Paulet Island, home of the area’s largest colony of Adelies at around 200,000 breeding pairs. Those on deck briefly and fortunately interrupted our passage with a sighting of two leopard seals resting on an ice flow. These magnificent predators are second only to the orcas on the Antarctic food chain, and though their primary source of nourishment is krill, many a penguin has met an unfortunate end in their smiling jaws. Many thanks to Captain Karl Lampe and chief mate Hakan Gustafsson who deftly maneuvered the ship right alongside for everyone to get a close look before we continued on our way.
Upon arrival at Paulet, we really got a taste, or rather smell, of a truly successful breeding colony of Adelies. Steve MacLean also shared a bit of history on the Swedish South Polar Expedition, and the remains of the stone hut where they were forced to over-winter back in 1903. At that time, those who visited the white continent had to contend with far more adversity than do we on board the comfortably plush Endeavour. May tomorrow be as “terrible” as today!
