Yalour Islands, Penola Strait, Antarctica; 65° 15' 59" South, 64° 12' 48" West
Expedition cruising is like this: the unplanned stops always provide the richest experiences. Last night we were north-bound from the Antarctic Circle, avoiding ice-clogged passages by traveling at some distance from the coast. This morning we approached the mainland a bit further south than originally planned because, well, why not? After all, “The coast was clear.” Of ice, that is. Doing so put us in view of the Yalour Islands, at the southern end of Penola Strait.
This little archipelago of rounded, glacier-smoothed rocks seemed inviting enough to give us pause and reconsider the morning’s plan. There really was no hurry to make it to our scheduled stop. That particular island (Pleneau) wasn’t going anywhere and it would still make a fine afternoon landing. As long as we are here, why not spend time after breakfast in the Zodiacs? This scattering of low islands, home to a number of nesting penguins, kelp gulls and Antarctic terns, had also collected quite a fan club of ice bergs around it. Who knows what we might discover if we were to thread our way through the blue ice in our nimble Zodiacs?
Two answers to this question, just two of many that were found this morning, are pictured lying on adjacent bergy bits. The foreground shows a crabeater seal and in the background is a leopard seal. The leopard seal is known to eat young crabeaters and it is likely that the scars visible behind this crabby’s right flipper are from such an encounter in its youth. Seal biologists believe scars such as these are caused when a young crabeater escapes the jaws of a leopard seal by spinning its body rapidly. A notable percentage of adult crabeaters bear similar scars as the one pictured.
Leopard seals grow to over eleven feet long and can weigh in at over half a ton. That peculiar-shaped head you see to the left, contains jaws that can gape wide enough to grab the Zodiac’s pontoon. Luckily for us and this crabby, no such peculiar thoughts were in its head this morning. In fact, both seals were content to bask in the sunshine as we gingerly nosed around the floes.
Our ride back to the Endeavour took us through a wonderland of the most amazingly-shaped ice bergs. Throughout the morning, radioed directions among the Zodiac drivers to points of interest or happenings (like the two Minke whales that were sporting among the floes) centered around a large, blue, floating castle-berg and another berg that looked as though it could serve as a portal to other dimensions. Perhaps deviating from the “schedule” this morning had transported us to another world. It certainly felt like it.
Expedition cruising is like this: the unplanned stops always provide the richest experiences. Last night we were north-bound from the Antarctic Circle, avoiding ice-clogged passages by traveling at some distance from the coast. This morning we approached the mainland a bit further south than originally planned because, well, why not? After all, “The coast was clear.” Of ice, that is. Doing so put us in view of the Yalour Islands, at the southern end of Penola Strait.
This little archipelago of rounded, glacier-smoothed rocks seemed inviting enough to give us pause and reconsider the morning’s plan. There really was no hurry to make it to our scheduled stop. That particular island (Pleneau) wasn’t going anywhere and it would still make a fine afternoon landing. As long as we are here, why not spend time after breakfast in the Zodiacs? This scattering of low islands, home to a number of nesting penguins, kelp gulls and Antarctic terns, had also collected quite a fan club of ice bergs around it. Who knows what we might discover if we were to thread our way through the blue ice in our nimble Zodiacs?
Two answers to this question, just two of many that were found this morning, are pictured lying on adjacent bergy bits. The foreground shows a crabeater seal and in the background is a leopard seal. The leopard seal is known to eat young crabeaters and it is likely that the scars visible behind this crabby’s right flipper are from such an encounter in its youth. Seal biologists believe scars such as these are caused when a young crabeater escapes the jaws of a leopard seal by spinning its body rapidly. A notable percentage of adult crabeaters bear similar scars as the one pictured.
Leopard seals grow to over eleven feet long and can weigh in at over half a ton. That peculiar-shaped head you see to the left, contains jaws that can gape wide enough to grab the Zodiac’s pontoon. Luckily for us and this crabby, no such peculiar thoughts were in its head this morning. In fact, both seals were content to bask in the sunshine as we gingerly nosed around the floes.
Our ride back to the Endeavour took us through a wonderland of the most amazingly-shaped ice bergs. Throughout the morning, radioed directions among the Zodiac drivers to points of interest or happenings (like the two Minke whales that were sporting among the floes) centered around a large, blue, floating castle-berg and another berg that looked as though it could serve as a portal to other dimensions. Perhaps deviating from the “schedule” this morning had transported us to another world. It certainly felt like it.
