26 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Macaroni's On The Menu

The last Blog Post, focused on our early morning visit to Point Wild, on the Northern side of Elephant Island. This was the stoney beach where Shackleton's crew spent four and a half months before Shackleton was able to rescue them. Sadly, the seas were too rough and foggy to be able to safely launch the zodiacs. So, the Expedition Leader Ali & the skipper proposed checking out Cape Lookout on the Southern coastline. It was a thirty-five mile distance at sea, but the weather improved as soon as we cleared Cape Valentine, in the North East corner of the island.

The weather was totally different on the South side of Elephant Island

Antarctic Tern: This is the gaini subspecies which breeds around the South Shetland Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula & neighbouring islands

Antarctic Tern: They are superficially similar to Arctic Terns, but any Arctic Terns would be in their Winter plumage at this time of year. They are really good looking, if you get the exposure correct

The seas around Elephant Island are clearly good for Whales. Around the coastline we saw five Fin Whales, another two Fin or Sei Whales, another four large Whales, ten Humpback Whales, my first Antarctic Minke Whale and about twenty sets of blows where we didn't see the Whale. There was also a pod of three Hourglass Dolphins.

Fin Whale: A blowing Fin Whale

Fin Whale: I managed to get a photo of the dorsal fin to confirm the identification. Some of the other confirmed Fin Whales were based upon photos that some of the other Birders managed to take, but I failed to get anything

We passed this impressive glacier

We carried on cruising along the coast, until we reached a Chinstrap Penguin colony at Cape Lookout: on the Southern-most point of Elephant Island. Fortunately, the sea conditions were good enough to launch the zodiacs. A recent Greenpeace study has suggested the population of Chinstrap Penguins on Elephant Island has declined from the one hundred and twenty thousand pairs at the start of the 1970s to just over fifty thousand pairs. Climate change is considered to be the cause of this decline.

The Chinstrap Penguins were scattered across the hillside

Chinstrap Penguin: A closer photo of part of the main colony

Finally, the sea conditions were good enough to launch the zodiacs

This photo was circulating widely the following morning: Sadly, I didn't see this Chinstrap Penguin who popped up on a zodiac to check out the passengers, which included one of my cabin mates, Steve Preddy, who is sitting on the far right. Amusingly, none of the passengers on the zodiac was aware of this visitor

Chinstrap Penguin: There few a few breeding closer to the beach, along with a couple of Macaroni Penguins at the top

Chinstrap Penguin

Chinstrap Penguin

Chinstrap Penguin: I guess nesting closer to the beach is cleaner, until you get a Southern storm hitting the coastline

Chinstrap Penguin: Some were in need of a bath by the time they had hopped up & down through some of the muddy, guano-filled gullies

More interesting was there was a smaller colony of Macaroni Penguins in some of the gullies. We had seen a few when we were at Cooper Island. But we hadn't managed to get into the zodiacs there due to the sea conditions. So, these were the first Macaroni Penguins that many of the non-Birders on the Plancius would have seen.

Macaroni Penguin: There were small groups of Macaroni Penguins breeding on the lower parts of the coast

Macaroni Penguin: It looks like is been a successful breeding season

Macaroni Penguin: This monotypic species breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula, the Falklands, South Georgia, Kerguelen & Heard Islands

Macaroni Penguin: There are a few other similar-looking Penguins around the World: Fiordland Penguin, Erect-crested Penguin, Royal Penguin, Southern Rockhopper Penguin, Tristan Penguin and Snare's Penguin. They are separated geographically, but they can also be identified by the size and shape of the ear crests

By late morning, everybody was back onboard and we were heading South to the Antarctic Peninsula. But we still had another one hundred and fifty miles before we reached the Antarctic Peninsula. We weren't going to see Antarctic until we got up around dawn on the following morning.

A final view of Elephant Island as we were heading South to the Antarctic Peninsula

There were still a reasonable selection of Seabirds as we departed from Elephant Island.

Grey-headed Albatross: Adult

Grey-headed Albatross: Adult

Grey-headed Albatross: Adult

Grey-headed Albatross: 1st Year. They have a darker head pattern than immature Shy Albatrosses and the dark bill confirms it is a Grey-headed Albatross. Shy Albatrosses would have a pale bill

Southern Royal Albatross: Adult. This is a Southern Royal Albatross. Its breeding grounds are in the New Zealand Subantarctic Campbell and Auckland Islands. The dark gap line and the all-white tail eliminates it from one of the Wandering Albatrosses. The white forewing confirms the age

Antarctic Fulmar: I saw sixteen as we sailed South from Elephant Island

It was going to be an early start on the following morning as we would at the Antarctic Peninsula and the chance to see my first Adelie Penguins. However, all eyes were needed in the hope of an outside chance of an Emperor Penguin, albeit we wouldn't get closer than about sixty miles to the nearest colony.

26 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Point Wild On Elephant Island

I was excited as I got up as we were close to Elephant Island. However, that excitement decreased by the time I reached the lounge to make a hot drink. The seas were noticeably choppy and it was misty. Sadly, it didn't improve. However, after breakfast we did approach to view the small beach where Shackleton and his crew made their second landfall at Point Wild on Elephant Island. This was the beach where Shackleton and his five colleagues left for the over nine hundred mile crossing to South Georgia.

Point Wild: This looks an inhospitable place to spend over four months hoping to be rescued

On 9 Apr 1916, the ice floe that Ernest Shackleton and the men of the Endurance finally started to break up. They had already been trapped in the ice since the Endurance became stuck in Feb 1915, until she finally sank in Nov 1915. The crew took to the sea and after five days of sailing across near three hundred and fifty miles of sea, they reached Elephant Island. They landed at Cape Valentine on the North East corner of the island, but two days later they moved to a more sheltered location at Point Wild. Unfortunately, Elephant Island was well away from any whaling routes and it was unlikely that a passing ship would discover them. Therefore, on 24 Apr 1916, Shackleton, Frank Worsley, Tom Crean, John Vincent, Tim McCarthy and Harry 'Chippy' McNish took to the open sea again in their attempt to reach South Georgia. I wonder how many of the crew left on the beach in Frank Hurley's evocative photo (which can be quickly found by an internet search), thought they would see Shackleton again, as they waved him off.

The camp for the Endurance's crew was the narrow beach at the right hand side of this island

Perhaps it's fitting that the weather was so bad, as it helps to emphasise how grim it must have been to be on this beach for over four and a half months, until their ultimate rescue by the Shackleton, Worsley and Crean, who returned to Elephant Island on the Chilean vessel Yelcho to retrieve the twenty-two men left behind on 30 Aug 1916. Wild and the crew were stuck there during the Antarctic Winter when there were few Penguins and Seals around. But any that they could catch, would have been quickly killed for food, with their blubber being used in blubber lamps. They survived by upturning the two remaining lifeboats as shelter, with rocks and their tents to make the area around and under the two boats more windproof. Shackleton and Wild had agreed that if Shackleton hadn't rescued them by the following Summer, they were to take to the boats again in the hope of reaching Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands. Fortunately, they were rescued before having to attempt this dangerous sea crossing.

There was a Penguin colony on the lower beach of outer island

There is now a statue on the beach where Shackleton's crew spent their time: You would have thought this would have been a statue of Frank Wild. But instead it's a bust of Captain Luis Pardo who commanded the steam tug Yelcho which rescued Shackleton's crew. The bust was placed there by a Chilean Antarctic Scientific Expedition in 1987 – 88

The bust of Captain Luis Pardo: The mist lifted briefly, but it quickly closed in again

Somehow the Penguins had a route to the high part of the island above the beach

Another part of the Penguin colony

We left for the South side of Elephant Island as Expedition Leader Ali thought the conditions might be better on that side of the island.

I was glad we weren't on this cruise ship: It is far to large to get in close to Point Wild and it's quite likely that the vast majority of the passengers wouldn't have been interested in seeing this historic location

Ali & the skipper were right that the weather would be better once we cleared Cape Valentine

I will cover the rest of the day in the next Blog Post.

25 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Heading South From South Georgia - Day 3

The swell had certainly increased overnight and was quite lively during breakfast. But I was pleased that the seasickness patches were working well and I had no problems eating or seawatching.

Steve Preddy contemplating how much the sea had got up overnight

A rougher wave

The rougher seas breaking on the deck above our cabin: I was glad our cabin's porthole had its steel shutter bolted down

Once on deck, there were some familiar faces that we had been seeing daily over the previous few days.

Cape Petrel: I saw over one hundred and thirty-five seen, compared to the mere two the day before

Light-mantled Sooty Albatross: With a Black-browed Albatross and a couple of Antarctic Fulmars

Light-mantled Sooty Albatross: The Antarctic Fulmar is feeding on something pink or red in the water

Light-mantled Sooty Albatross: We weren't as close as this photo suggests, but still close enough to spook the Light-mantled Sooty Albatross

Light-mantled Sooty Albatross: One final flight photo

Antarctic Fulmar: I saw five during the day, including three which were with the Light-mantled Sooty Albatross

Antarctic Fulmar: This monotypic species is also known as Southern Fulmar. They occur throughout the Antarctic region & they range widely in the Southern Oceans

I'm not sure who took this photo of me as I searched for the next goodie

It was an impressive iceberg

The iceberg had some impressive caves in it

We started to see large Whales. Most had to be left as Fin/Sei Whales as the views where either too brief or too distant to photograph them. However, there were a couple of close Fin Whales which were showing well enough for Expedition Leader Ali to ask the bridge crew to stop the Plancius. One of the great things about the Plancius is she is an ex-Dutch submarine hunter and research ship and was designed to be especially quiet at sea. As a result, the bridge team are very good at being able to slowly approach Whales, without spooking or stressing them. This is something that wouldn't be possible in the larger cruise ships. While this was happening, there was a Tannoy call to inform the other passengers that we had a couple of close Fin Whales. It livened up the day for many of the passengers and along with the icebergs, were the only reasons many had some fresh air on deck.

Fin Whale: It's clearly a Fin Whale or Sei Whale with that large body and prominent dorsal fin. But it's not possible to see the dorsal fin shape on this view. There was the remains of a second blow, which isn't shown in this photo

Fin Whale: When it next surfaced, it was side on to the ship. The dorsal fin is a smooth curve and not too thin and high, which makes it a Fin Whale. Sei Whale have a taller dorsal fin with a prominent kink in the middle of the leading edge

Fin Whale: This is also a Fin Whale, but perhaps it is the second individual as the dorsal fin shape looks less curved

Fin Whale: One of the Fin Whales surfaces, while the other blows strongly

Fin Whale: The second Fin Whale dorsal fin is just visible in the foreground of this photo

Fin Whale: This time I managed to photograph the head with its ridge as it starts to blow

Fin Whale: Another dorsal fin photograph

Fin Whale: Sometimes a Whale surfaces and it's just impossible to identify it, even when it shows are fair bit of body and the dorsal fin

Fin Whale: On the last view, it rolled and its white front flipper appeared above the water. Fin Whales have a white right jaw and white on the flipper and this is thought to be used to confuse and corral Fish, before the Fin Whale lunges through a shoal

Later in the day, we passed this massive iceberg. This was probably one to two miles long.

This was a massive iceberg that passed us on the starboard side

The avian highlight of the day managed to elude all the Birders. While we were all looking at the very large iceberg, the only Antarctic Petrel flew past. Speaking to Marcus Lawson when we got back, he said the ones he saw the previous year had flown high past the ship without lingering. I only realised this had happened when I enlarged the photo of a Seabird flying past in a couple of the iceberg photos.

Antarctic Petrel: Note, the dark head and white breast and belly

Antarctic Petrel: Note, the black trailing edge to the primaries and secondaries, the translucent secondaries and the dark tail. They breed on Antarctic islands & coasts and range across the Southern Oceans

During the afternoon, we passed the Antarctic Provider. This is a modern Krill factory ship which travels between fishing boats in Antarctica and South America carrying Krill. While Whale killing has stopped in Antarctica since the Japanese changed their plans to only kill Whales in their seas, ships are still extracting around one hundred thousand metric tons of Krill every year from Antarctic waters. This is enough Krill to feed over six thousand Blue Whales a year. While the killing of Whales has stopped, the indirect slaughter of Whales by depriving them of food to convert it into fertiliser etc is happening with governments uninterested in reducing this Krill capture.

The Antarctic Provider

I was looking forward to the morning when we should reach the location on Elephant Island where Shackleton's crew spent several months waiting to be rescued.