Antarctic Peninsula - the beauty
Day 5 : Dec 14, 2019
On the 5th day, our lifelong dream comes true as we set foot on Antarctic Peninsula, landing at Cuverville Island and Neko Harbour.
Antarctic Peninsula
The ship was on course to Cuverville Island in the Antarctic Peninsula as we enjoyed the morning tea delivered to the suite, savouring the views of icebergs and brash ice passing by. The Penguins were bobbing in & out of water as they went about their daily routine. Soon, we freshened up and got ready for the day.
We were now approaching the Antarctic Peninsula which forms a beckoning finger like structure reaching out towards South America. For the explorers, it offers the first spectacular peek of the snow covered landscapes and colossal ice sculptures, which makes up this least explored continent. The vast peninsula hosts quite a number of research bases that endeavours to study the unique landscape and its flora & fauna.
We had our breakfast at La Terrazza on Deck 7 and took some photographs from the gallery with bright sun lightening up the scene. We also spotted a sailing boat in the area and wondered how it had endured the Drake Passage.
Cuverville Island
Our landing slot for Cuverville Island was scheduled at 10:00 am. We geared up and went for our landing at the scheduled time. At the landing site, as we stepped off the zodiac into the water and made our way to the shore, we were greeted by a bunch of Gentoo Penguins who eyed us curiously from a distance. The beach area was marked with flags to indicate the path towards the slope carefully avoiding the areas frequented by the penguins.
Cuverville Island (64º41´00´´S, 62º38´00´´W)in North Errera Channel, is a 2 km by 2.5 km island off the west coast of Antarctic Peninsula. It has a steep-sided dome, two-thirds of which is covered by a permanent ice-cap. The northern shore is a 1.5 km long beach of cobbles and boulders. Crossing the beach, one encounters steep vegetation covered cliffs toward the east and gentler slopes to the west. The island houses couple of colonies of Gentoo Penguins. Antarctic Terns, Kelp Gulls, Cape Petrels, Snow Petrels and Skuas also nest on the island.
At the shore, we decided to climb up the snow-path. It was a pretty steep climb and we were lucky that we had decided to bring our hiking poles that day. There were Penguin rookeries on our way up with Penguin Highways intersecting our path couple of times. It was interesting to see the penguins march up and down the highway and at some intersections we had to wait for them to pass since the Penguins have the right of way. At one point near the top, Bidisha veered a little off the designated path and her boots got stuck in soft snow. She had to remove her foot from the boot and I had to dig out the boot. At the top, there was a vantage point which offered beautiful views of the Cuverville Island, the bay and the ship anchored in the bay. There was also a rookery at the top with Penguins nesting. We took quite a few photographs and also enjoyed the scenic beauty. Everything can’t be captured in the camera and some beautiful views have to be savoured with eyes.
Thereafter, we trekked down, slowly and safely, encountering Penguins couple of times. As we were trekking down, we passed by a Penguin rookery and witnessed an amazing sight of a faceoff between a Penguin protecting her eggs in the nest and a Skua perched at the edge of the rookery trying to steal the eggs. The Skua was making aggressive moves towards the nest and Penguin was countering the moves with shrill gaks. The other Penguins in the rookery were sometimes joining in the gakking but were more focussed in keeping their own eggs safe. After watching the spectacle for some time, we resumed our downward trek. As we were waiting to board our zodiac, we saw the Skua come down to the edge of the water with an egg in its beak. Obviously, the Skua had been successful in stealing an egg and assuring its own meal. The Skua carefully washed the egg in the water and then carried it away to eat it somewhere in private. We had just witnessed a live demonstration of the way food chain works in the wild. Soon our zodiac arrived and we boarded for our ride back to the ship. Our return journey back to ship in the zodiac was uneventful though the ride was thrilling.
We had lunch at La Terrazza on Deck 7, while the ship started sailing towards Neko Harbour. We enjoyed the beautiful passage to Neko Harbour while enjoying our food. We were lucky to get a seat next to the glass doors opening into the balcony overlooking the stern of the ship. At 1:15 pm, we assembled at Explorer Lounge at Deck 6, for the next day’s briefing by the Expedition team.
Neko Harbour
As the ship dropped anchor at Neko Harbour, we went up to Deck 8 and took some photographs of the marvellous scenery.
Neko Harbour (64º50´00´´S, 62º33´00´´W)), located at Andvord Bay in Antarctic Peninsula, is known for its stunning glacial scenery. It has a small beach surrounded by towering peaks and glaciers. Gentoo Penguins, Kelp Gulls and Skuas have established their homes on the island. The glaciers in the area are heavily crevassed and those at the bay regularly calve sending spectacular splashes into the water which sometimes also results in local tsunamis.
Our landing slot was scheduled at 5:30 pm. We lounged in our suite and enjoyed the beautiful view from the balcony over a cup of hot tea. At 5:15 pm, we made our way to Deck 3, fully geared up, for our next landing. Swiped our access cards and went to the mudroom to put our boots and then queued to get into the zodiacs.
Today it was a slow ride to the landing point since the area was full of brash ice. Our zodiac crew deftly steered the boat through the brash ice and got us safely to the landing point. We got off the zodiac into the water and quickly made our way up the slope crossing the beach. We had been forewarned during the briefing not to hang around the beach since Neko Harbour is infamous for glacier calving and consequent tsunamis. At the landing site, once we stepped off the zodiac into the water and made our way to the shore, a feeling of elation overcame us – finally we had stepped onto Antarctica mainland!
We trekked up the hill through the snow with Gentoo penguins crossing our path every now and then. We walked up for 1 km to a vantage point which offered excellent views. Some of the explorers decided to trek up another 1 km. But we decided to stay put and enjoy the view. The sun was shining bright and soon we were feeling a bit sweaty even though the temperature was 2 degrees Celsius. Some of the more adventurous among the explorers removed their Parka. It was hard to believe that we were in Antarctica!
Soon we were gifted with a sight of a small glacier calving and this created a minor tsunami type effect in the sea below. We got opportunity to take some great photographs of the event. The pictures from this vantage point were simply astounding and the scenery was that of a picture postcard. It is not so often that one experiences such perfect weather conditions. It turned out to be perfect day and made our experience truly memorable.
As we returned back, we passed through a bunch of Gentoo Penguins hanging out on the beach near the landing site. We climbed on the zodiac and began our journey back to the ship. Our pilot steered the zodiac deftly through the brash ice and brought us back to the ship. Boarding the ship, we went through the standard routine of cleaning the boots before stowing them on the racks. Back in our suite, we relaxed with a cup of hot tea. The ship started sailing out of Neko Harbour.
Orcas Spotted!
We had our dinner at La Terraza and enjoyed the Italian cuisine. Back in our suite, as we were preparing to retire, there was an announcement at 10:15 pm that a pack of Orca whales had been spotted near the bow. We dressed up and rushed to the bow area of Deck 5, which had been opened for the explorers to enable them to take a good look at the Orcas. There were some 5-6 Orcas that were swimming in the area surfacing once in a while. We had a good look and took some photographs. The sun was pretty low on the horizon and it created a magical moment. After soaking in the tranquillity, we retired back into our suite and called it a day. What an end to a beautiful day in Antarctic Peninsula!
