Sunday, January 18, 2009
Jan 18 data
At Cuverville Island (actually, we had sailed a little while earlier, so just south). 1 pm, cloudy and snowing.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Deception Island map
No UV data since I was there in the afternoon and it became cloudy, but here is the location.
Half Moon and Deception Islands
Arrived at Half Moon Island this morning. Simply gorgeous.
Took a hike up and over to the other side of the island. If you look carefully, you can see that a chinstrap penguin is leading the way.
On the other side of the island, we found this cute Antarctic fur seal. A Weddell seal and some chinstrap penguins are in the background, too.
And a shipwrecked dory, most likely from whaling days.
This was a beautiful location, but we had to move on and get to Deception Island. Deception Island is a semi-active volcano and we were actually able to sail into the collapsed caldera.
We landed at Whalers Bay, where a whaling station turned British outpost was abandoned due to volcanic eruptions and a mud flow that destroyed much of it.
Volcanic activity still exists under the surface as you can see by the steam coming off the water.
This led to some crazy behavior that I can’t even believe I’m showing you. Peer pressure is a powerful thing.
Recuperating with a hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps as I type :-)
Took a hike up and over to the other side of the island. If you look carefully, you can see that a chinstrap penguin is leading the way.
On the other side of the island, we found this cute Antarctic fur seal. A Weddell seal and some chinstrap penguins are in the background, too.
And a shipwrecked dory, most likely from whaling days.
This was a beautiful location, but we had to move on and get to Deception Island. Deception Island is a semi-active volcano and we were actually able to sail into the collapsed caldera.
We landed at Whalers Bay, where a whaling station turned British outpost was abandoned due to volcanic eruptions and a mud flow that destroyed much of it.
Volcanic activity still exists under the surface as you can see by the steam coming off the water.
This led to some crazy behavior that I can’t even believe I’m showing you. Peer pressure is a powerful thing.
Recuperating with a hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps as I type :-)
Jan 16 data
Taken at Snow Hill at 1 pm. Heavy clouds, so UV readings are bogus. Stronger than Portland UV on a clear day in winter, though. Right, Dave Vernier?
Snow Hill
Sorry this is a little late. No internet service yesterday.
Anchored at Snow Hill last night and saw this beautiful iceberg with Adelie penguins out my window.
We headed to shore right after breakfast. This is where the Swedish Nordenskjöld Expedition of 1901-1904 set up their main camp for one year (which ended up being two). They brought a pre-fab hut with them on their ship and it still stands today.
The interior has been restored as a museum piece.
This location is so dry, that animals mummify when they die. There were many seal and penguin mummies lying around.
This island is also full of fossils. We were told that Alfred Wegener, the father of the theory of Continental Drift, actually used fossils from here at Snow Hill to come up with his idea that it used to be part of a larger landmass that broke apart. Haven’t checked facts on this yet.
The weather changes quickly here and snow was soon upon us. We just kept going.
We launched the sea kayaks for the first time today. Cute bergie bits to be seen.
We were supposed to sail further south in the Weddell sea this afternoon, but bad weather prevented that and we headed north. I thought the lighting on this iceberg was pretty.
This huge tabular iceberg is part of the Larsen Ice Shelf that broke off in 2002. Nothing to get a size perspective, but over 100 ft high.
A humpback whale was playing off our bow after dinner.
Another great day! (I'll try not to end every post with that, but what else can I say?)
Anchored at Snow Hill last night and saw this beautiful iceberg with Adelie penguins out my window.
We headed to shore right after breakfast. This is where the Swedish Nordenskjöld Expedition of 1901-1904 set up their main camp for one year (which ended up being two). They brought a pre-fab hut with them on their ship and it still stands today.
The interior has been restored as a museum piece.
This location is so dry, that animals mummify when they die. There were many seal and penguin mummies lying around.
This island is also full of fossils. We were told that Alfred Wegener, the father of the theory of Continental Drift, actually used fossils from here at Snow Hill to come up with his idea that it used to be part of a larger landmass that broke apart. Haven’t checked facts on this yet.
The weather changes quickly here and snow was soon upon us. We just kept going.
We launched the sea kayaks for the first time today. Cute bergie bits to be seen.
We were supposed to sail further south in the Weddell sea this afternoon, but bad weather prevented that and we headed north. I thought the lighting on this iceberg was pretty.
This huge tabular iceberg is part of the Larsen Ice Shelf that broke off in 2002. Nothing to get a size perspective, but over 100 ft high.
A humpback whale was playing off our bow after dinner.
Another great day! (I'll try not to end every post with that, but what else can I say?)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Paulet Island
During lunch, we sailed to Paulet Island. It has over 100,000 nesting pairs of Adelie penguins. So with 2 parents and a chick, that’s over 300,000 penguins! Some of you could have done the math on your own, I know.
This photograph shows several things—one is the colony of Adelie penguins at the shore. But if you look up onto the hills, you will see large pink areas. Those are also filled with penguins! The pink is from the krill they eat. Finally, the structure on the left is Larsen’s hut, from the Nordenskjöld Expedition of 1901-1904. As amazing a tale as Shackleton’s.
I chose to go on an optional difficult hike which took us up a very steep scree slope covered in guano, of course. The grayish path up the shore on the right is where we started our climb.
The way down on the other side was even worse. I made it though, and was rewarded with some beautiful scenes. Here we are at the top (notice the ship way down there and the baby penguins on the right on top with us).
The amazing thing is that the penguins choose to come up here to nest, as well. These guys are way, way up there.
Back at the water on the opposite side of the island, we saw a few fur seals like this one,
And a few Weddell seals, as well.
Finally, I’ll just throw in two gratuitous penguins on icebergs shots I took because I liked them.
Another great day.
This photograph shows several things—one is the colony of Adelie penguins at the shore. But if you look up onto the hills, you will see large pink areas. Those are also filled with penguins! The pink is from the krill they eat. Finally, the structure on the left is Larsen’s hut, from the Nordenskjöld Expedition of 1901-1904. As amazing a tale as Shackleton’s.
I chose to go on an optional difficult hike which took us up a very steep scree slope covered in guano, of course. The grayish path up the shore on the right is where we started our climb.
The way down on the other side was even worse. I made it though, and was rewarded with some beautiful scenes. Here we are at the top (notice the ship way down there and the baby penguins on the right on top with us).
The amazing thing is that the penguins choose to come up here to nest, as well. These guys are way, way up there.
Back at the water on the opposite side of the island, we saw a few fur seals like this one,
And a few Weddell seals, as well.
Finally, I’ll just throw in two gratuitous penguins on icebergs shots I took because I liked them.
Another great day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
