Port Lockroy and Neko Harbour, Antarctica
A broad horizontal cloud bank lay suspended five-hundred feet over a near glassy sea as we approached our first destination of the day, Port Lockroy. Standing on the bow, the twin islands of Wiencke and Goudier seemed to rise from the sea as the cloud cover slowly lifted. Goudier Island is home to Port Lockroy, historically important as the earliest example of a British scientific research station in the Antarctic Peninsula. The base was established by the Royal Navy in 1944 and remained continuously occupied until January 1962. The station played an important role during the International Geophysical Year of 1957, contributing data in survey topography, geology, meteorology and botany.
After being abandoned in 1962, the station faced a serious period of disrepair, until in 1996, the Antarctic Heritage Trust began restoration of the buildings on the site, including Bransfield House, which is now a museum dedicated to the early days of Port Lockroy. A small museum store at Bransfield House helps the Trust fund the site and continue restoration and scientific work at Port Lockroy.
Our other destination at Port Lockroy was Jougla Point on Wiencke Island. Home to a large colony of Gentoo penguins, Jougla Point offered many opportunities for the photographers among us to exercise their skills near the nesting colonies of Gentoos. The sometimes comical interactions of the birds provided nearly unlimited photographs.
The afternoon’s destination was Neko Harbor on the Danco Coast, but first we sailed through picturesque Neumeyer Chanel, where we encountered a large group of killer whales hunting in twos and threes, which needless to say, made for much excitement and photographic frenzy on board. The killer whales obliged by coming so close to the ship that our longest lenses were rendered nearly useless. In many cases, a wide-angle would do! We spent an hour with the whales before resuming our voyage to Neko Harbor.
The sheltered bay at Neko Harbor is home to a large colony of Gentoo penguins. Scattered along the beach, and seeming to enjoy the experience immensely, the Gentoos hopped on and off scattered ice flows, porpoised and submarined through the harbor’s crystal clear water, and generally hung out like a bunch of tourists on vacation. As a photographer it was difficult to make much progress away from the beach because of the wild variety of photo opportunities.
Besides penguins, Neko Harbor also features a soaring snowfield and a breath-taking hike to its summit that offers amazing views of the surrounding harbor and its nearby glacier. The trip back down was a whole lot faster than the walk up, as many of us chose to take the opportunity to slide down the snowy slope in our own version of penguin tobogganing.
Not to be outdone, those who chose a Zodiac cruise for the afternoon’s activity had an encounter with a friendly Minke whale, who seemed to be as interested in us as we were in him. Almost close enough to touch, the Minke playfully swam around our Zodiacs, seeming to enjoy the time spent with his new-found friends from National Geographic Explorer immensely.
OK. How do you top a day like that?!!
