Petermann and Booth Islands, Antarctica
Overnight the ship had steamed northbound, quietly making her way through icebergs and the many islands around the Grandidier Channel, all of it very much Charcot country, the gentleman French explorer who charted and named much of the coastline on his two expeditions in the first decade of the 20th century.
The first landing of the day was on Petermann Island. Back in the winter of 1909 the very spot we stepped ashore would have looked very different. The purpose built exploration schooner Pour Quoi Pas was moored there. Eight huts had been erected and electric lighting lined the passageways cut through the deep snow to link the scientific laboratories and storage huts together. This morning there had been a light dusting of snow and we split into small groups and made our own tracks to different parts of the island. Gentoo and Adelie colonies covered most of the exposed rock outcrops and we also visited the small site of blue-eyed shags nesting on the sea cliffs. Whilst half of us were getting some walking exercise others were on the water kayaking around the bay and enjoying close encounters with humpback whales and a leopard seal. The two groups then changed over.
In the afternoon we visited another Charcot site. This was on Booth Island where just 100 years ago the French expedition had overwintered in the three masted schooner Français. Here we could actually see some of the remains of buildings where experiments studying the earth’s magnetism had been carried out. There was an abundance of wildlife to be seen. Then to finish off the visit a Zodiac cruise around some finely sculptured icebergs stranded on the ocean floor.
After dinner we returned to Petermann Island in order to drop off the Oceanites team. They will be camped out and continue their wildlife studies until being picked up by Endeavour in two weeks time. One member will be returning to civilization with us.
The final event of a full day was the northbound transit of the Lemaire Channel when there was yet more action, a pod of a dozen killer whales were spotted . An eventful day indeed.
Overnight the ship had steamed northbound, quietly making her way through icebergs and the many islands around the Grandidier Channel, all of it very much Charcot country, the gentleman French explorer who charted and named much of the coastline on his two expeditions in the first decade of the 20th century.
The first landing of the day was on Petermann Island. Back in the winter of 1909 the very spot we stepped ashore would have looked very different. The purpose built exploration schooner Pour Quoi Pas was moored there. Eight huts had been erected and electric lighting lined the passageways cut through the deep snow to link the scientific laboratories and storage huts together. This morning there had been a light dusting of snow and we split into small groups and made our own tracks to different parts of the island. Gentoo and Adelie colonies covered most of the exposed rock outcrops and we also visited the small site of blue-eyed shags nesting on the sea cliffs. Whilst half of us were getting some walking exercise others were on the water kayaking around the bay and enjoying close encounters with humpback whales and a leopard seal. The two groups then changed over.
In the afternoon we visited another Charcot site. This was on Booth Island where just 100 years ago the French expedition had overwintered in the three masted schooner Français. Here we could actually see some of the remains of buildings where experiments studying the earth’s magnetism had been carried out. There was an abundance of wildlife to be seen. Then to finish off the visit a Zodiac cruise around some finely sculptured icebergs stranded on the ocean floor.
After dinner we returned to Petermann Island in order to drop off the Oceanites team. They will be camped out and continue their wildlife studies until being picked up by Endeavour in two weeks time. One member will be returning to civilization with us.
The final event of a full day was the northbound transit of the Lemaire Channel when there was yet more action, a pod of a dozen killer whales were spotted . An eventful day indeed.
