Antarctic Peninsula
Port Lockroy, Neumeyer Channel – Large bleached whale bones attest to this anchorage’s whaling history. On a low-lying island in the bay, we photograph gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags, or enjoy the dramatic scenery of mountains and glaciers. Crabeater and leopard seals dot the ice floes alongside our vessel, and spotting whales is a possibility.
Lemaire Channel and Pleneau Island – Cruising the beautiful Lemaire Channel, we keep watch for the humpback and minke whales frequently spotted here. Steep mountain peaks jut out of the sea on both sides, and crabeater seals swim in the often iceberg-choked waters surrounding our vessel. A stunning labyrinth of grounded icebergs frequently lies in the shallow waters west of Pleneau Island, presenting a superb Zodiac cruising experience. Crabeater and leopard seals haul out on the ice, and elephant seals and gentoo penguins occupy the island itself.
Neko Harbour and Paradise Bay – We hope to set foot on the Antarctic continent at Neko Harbour. Occasionally, Weddell seals haul out on the beach, and a gentoo penguin colony overlooks a spectacular glacier. In our Zodiacs we weave our way among fantastic icebergs sculpted by wind and water. Later, the Clipper Adventurer navigates the scenic waters of Paradise Bay.
Cuverville Island – Set in the heart of a dramatic setting of towering icecapped mountains, tumbling glaciers, and ever-changing ice, this island is home to one of the largest gentoo penguin colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula. Kelp gulls, Antarctic terns, snowy sheathbills, and skuas also breed here. Weddell seals sometimes haul out on the beach, and crabeater and leopard seals may be found on ice floes offshore. Grounded icebergs often litter the shallow waters, providing excellent Zodiac cruising.
Hannah Point, Livingston Island – This narrow, rocky spit, a favorite haul-out for elephant seals, is a microcosm of Antarctic flora and fauna. It is here that we find three penguin species (gentoo, chinstrap, and macaroni), kelp gulls, southern giant petrels, snowy sheathbills, pintado petrels, blue-eyed shags, and the only two vascular plants occurring in Antarctica.
Deception Island – As we approach Deception through Neptune’s Bellows, a channel just wide enough for our ship to navigate, southern fulmars and pintado petrels replace majestic albatross. Our anchorage is inside a volcano whose collapsed cone was filled by rushing seawater. Brave souls may dip into the thermal waters near Pendulum Cove to experience swimming in the Antarctic! Weather permitting, we make a landing on the outside of the caldera, at a colony of more than 100,000 nesting chinstrap penguins.
Paulet Island / Antarctic
Sound – In an area of often heavy ice concentrations, Paulet
Island sits at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and on the border
of the Weddell Sea. The stone hut where Captain Larsen and his crew overwintered
in 1903 after their ship, the Antarctic, sank, provides mute and enduring
testimony to the privations early Antarctic explorers faced. A colony of Adelie
penguins estimated at 100,000 pairs covers the island slopes. We walk the
long, rocky beach amid seals and blue-eyed shags. Leopard seals patrol up
and down the ice-strewn surfline, trying to catch and eat penguins. The Antarctic
Sound is traditionally a good place for viewing tabular icebergs brought into
the sound by coastal currents from Weddell Sea ice shelves.
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