Day 274: Antarctic Cruise Day 10 – Yankee Harbor
OUR FIRST DAY IN ANTARCTICA! As of today, we have officially set foot on all seven continents at some point in our lives, so we can cross that off our bucket lists. J
Our first landing in Antarctica was on a small, protected beach called Yankee Harbor (named after the American whalers who used to camp out on the beach in the 1820s). The anchorage was protected by a 1KM-long gravel spit that juts into the water, creating a practically wave-less harbor that is easily accessible for cruise ships. In fact, Yankee Harbor is so popular, a second cruise ship was visiting the beach that day as well.
Since IAATO regulations only allow 100 people to go ashore at any one location at a time, our captain had to negotiate our time slot with the other ship. All the guests were divided into 5 groups and randomly assigned landing times. The first group had to get up at 5:30AM (hey – the sun doesn’t set in Antarctica, so we have plenty of daylight to work with!) for their 6AM landing…poor souls. We got lucky and ended up in the last group – we were a little antsy, sitting around waiting for our turn at noon, but not only were we well-rested for our first visit the shore, we also got the best weather as the morning clouds burnt off by the early afternoon.
Watching Gentoo Penguins as they “porpoise” through the water (i.e. jump out like a dolphin)
Igor waits impatiently on deck for our turn to go ashore. As he jealously watches the earlier groups head out to the island, he spots a few humpback whales and penguins breaching the surface of the water
Yankee Harbor, Greenwich Island – within the South Shetland Islands along the Antarctic Peninsula (check out that HUGE ice sheet coming down to the water!)
We watch zodiacs carrying a dozen guests zip back and forth from the ship to the shore (there’s a close-up of that MASSIVE ice sheet)
Finally! It’s time for our group to go ashore! We zip up our parkas, clip on our lifejackets and head down to the zodiacs
Our new couple of boots get a thorough washing before and after we go on land (to prevent transferring any illness from one penguin colony to another). We step into the zodiac and drive over to Yankee Harbor
We had an hour and a half allotted to explore the island (although, Igor soon learned that no one was *really* keeping track of how long we stay…if we stayed an extra 30min here and there, it didn’t hurt anyone…). The #1 attraction, of course, was the PENGUINS! Yankee Harbor is home to 5,466 nesting pairs of Gentoo Penguins (we know, because Alex Borowitz, a researcher from Stonybrook University, had to go and count each penguin 3 TIMES). Of the three types of Antarctic penguins we saw during our trip, the Gentoos were the healthiest population because they had the most flexible reproduction habits. As the climate changes, they had no trouble moving their nesting sites to cooler locations and delaying/speeding up mating to fit that year’s weather conditions. Overall, the population of Gentoos are on the rise in the Antarctic – it was nice to hear that the environment wasn’t all “doom and gloom”.
A couple of boots in Antarctica!
Igor taking pictures of the Gentoo Penguin colony in Yankee Harbor, with our ship in the background
We have to follow the IAATO guidelines regarding how close we can get to the wildlife (no closer than 5m). To comply with this, the Expedition Team set up flags and ropes for the guests to stay within. Now, that being said, the birds have no idea that this rule exists and would often walk up to *us*! After all, they are curious creatures and do not have an instinctual fear of humans. As long as we are not standing in the middle of a “penguin highway,” we are not required to run away to maintain the 5m distance from the birds so we are able to get quite close and we get some AMAZING pictures!
The Gentoo Penguins build their nests out of rocks, so that the eggs will stay dry if it snows during incubation. While many of the eggs in Yankee Harbor have already hatched, we still see several fathers hobbling around, picking up rocks (often stealing them from other nests!) and presenting them to their mates. The mothers and fathers take turns sitting on the eggs – when one mate gets tired or hungry and wants to switch shifts, s/he throws their head back and starts calling for their mate to come home
Another mother calls for her husband, while he’s busy stealing the neighbor’s rocks
So many baby chicks! Gentoos typically lay two eggs per season, so there were a lot of these fluffy little guys
Fat, lazy slugs…I mean, Elephant Seals! About a dozen of these tubers of blubber were sleeping (and burping) on the beach. The poor guy on the right looks like we may be recovering from an Orca attack – feel better!
These Elephant Seals look pretty gross, because they are molting. Unlike dogs, who just shed their fur, Elephant Seals undergo what is called a “catastrophic molt” where they shed both their fur *and* and layer of skin. The whole process is rather itchy and uncomfortable, so we see many of the seals wiggling around and scratching.
“I’m done!” This relatively small Elephant Seal looks like he is done molting – it takes him about 10min to wiggle his way down to the water. Hard work, buddy – you’ve earned a break.
Although Elephant Seals are the world’s biggest seal (breeding males can weigh over 6,600lbs and be 30ft in length – that’s equivalent to 7 polar bears!), they are not penguin predators – they only eat fish and krill – so the Gentoos are fearless, walking among the slumbering pennipeds. These Elephant Seals aren’t that big – they are juveniles (around 3-4 years old) and aren’t big enough to fight off the dominant males and claim a “harem” of females to breed with. Not only are they quite young, but because they can’t feed while they are molting (not enough insulation for the frigid waters until they grow their new coat of fur and skin) they are losing a lot of body mass
While the penguins have nothing to fear from the seals, the Skuas are another story. These huge, gull-like birds often set up their nests adjacent to penguin colonies as they prey on penguin eggs and chicks
Sadly, this little Gentoo chick was victim to a Skua attack. Since Skuas don’t have any thumbs to tear the meat apart, it’s a gruesome scene as the bird repeatedly shakes the corpse to break away bite-size pieces. Circle of Life, yo.
After two hours of snapping pictures, we start to make our way back to the zodiacs, when all of sudden we notice something…different! A Chipstrap Penguin! Looks like this little guy got lost and followed the wrong penguin home. (There is a Chipstrap rockery on the neighboring island, so he’ll find his way back eventually)
All good things must come to an end, so at 2PM we had our All Aboard so the other cruise ship could have their turn visiting the beach. The weather that afternoon was GLOROIOUS, and the views we got of the Antarctic Peninsula as we cruised further south were AMAZING.
Scenic cruising along the Antarctic Peninsula
It’s so beautiful…I think Igor is about to cry…
Postcard-perfect pictures of the Antarctic Peninsula
Seriously…it doesn’t get any better than this!
Icebergs floating in the Bransfield Strait – nothing too big to worry about, just the perfect size for seals and penguins to take a little break
Late that afternoon, our Captain came on the PA to share an exciting piece of news: the weather was so phenomenal that he had decided to take us on a detour to visit Deception Island! Deception Island is the flooded caldera of an active volcano, which has a narrow opening on the northeast side of its perimeter – it earned its name because it took sailors decades to realize the opening led into a protective harbor in the middle. The 230m wide passage into the caldera – called “Neptune’s Bellows” due to the strong winds that can blow through the opening – can be very dangerous in bad weather and have sunk several ships over the years. Most cruises to Antarctica (especially in ships our size – the biggest that can make landfall) have to bypass Deception Island – several members of the Expedition Team and repeat guests told us this was the first time they could *see* the island, let alone sail inside! We’re just lucky, lucky, lucky!
Calm waters in the Bransfield Strait as we sail up to Neptune’s Bellows – the entrance to Deception Island’s hidden harbor
Sailing inside an active volcano – Deception Island!
Inside the Whalers Bay, where we see the rusting remains of the New Sandefjord station. Back in the summer of 1912-13, the waters of Whalers Bay turned red as over 5,000 whales were hacked to pieces in order to boil out the precious oil from the meat and bones. Nowadays, the buildings are used as a research station. Sadly, we are not permitted to make landfall within Deception Island (only ships with fewer than 300 passengers are allowed) We’re a bit jealous as we watch the smaller cruise ship that was behind us in Yankee Harbor stop and ferry its guests to shore.
A clear view of the 230m-wide “Neptune’s Bellows” – alternately called “Hell’s Gate” and “Dragon’s Mouth”
As we sail past the headland, we can see thousands of little black dots covering the cliffs – an estimated 50,000 pairs of Chinstrap Penguins are nesting on Deception Island