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: 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.
