Damoy Point & Gerlache Strait, 12/14/2021, National Geographic Endurance
Aboard the
National Geographic Endurance
Antarctica
We spent the morning visiting a Gentoo penguin colony at Damoy Point, located on Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago. Then we made our way to the historic Damoy Hut, built in 1975 by the British Antarctic Survey and last occupied in 1993. When sea ice prevented ships from reaching Rothera Research Station, the hut served as a transit station for staff and supplies. The Bahia Dorian Hut, established in 1953 by the Argentine Navy and used as an emergency refuge, is located nearby.
The staff made a trail to visit a Gentoo penguin colony on a nearby hill. Penguins gathered and mated, a few laying eggs. Gentoo penguins have black heads with white bonnets and prominent brush tails.
After lunch, we spent the afternoon looking for whales in the Gerlache Strait, where we spotted several humpback whales. We also viewed the Sir David Attenborough, a research vessel used by the British Antarctic Survey. Dr. Tom Hart, penguinologist, gave a talk on penguin conservation, and guest speaker Tom Ritchie shared his Antarctica stories.
South Carolina native Anna Mazurek fell in love with traveling and photography while studying abroad in England during college. Since then, she’s been to 53 countries and lived in five.
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We woke up early this morning to take advantage of the calm weather. We set out to explore Pourquoi-Pas Island, named after Charcot’s second Antarctic expedition ship. We hiked up the island’s moraine to gain lovely views of the bay. We also enjoyed a leisurely walk along the shore. Along the way, we spotted a few more Adelie penguins, skuas with their chicks, kelp gulls, a Weddell seal and a crabeater seal swimming through the water. In the afternoon, we explored a brand-new area on Horseshoe Island, pioneering a new hike up one side and down the other into Gaul Cove. We enjoyed beautiful views of the cove and glacier. The hike was full of beautiful pink granite and stunning geological views all around.
After leaving the Stange Ice Shelf and cruising up Carroll Inlet during the wee hours of the morning, we continued heading northward all day. As we made our way through open seas and moderate northerly winds in the morning, we had time for a couple of presentations in the Ice Lounge. We discussed the famous “Race to the Pole” between Amundsen and Scott, and the wonderful adaptations of the marine mammals we have observed. We are located in the southeast corner of the Bellingshausen Sea, the base of the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. This region, where the coastline turns west toward Marie Byrd Land and the Ross Sea, is entirely unfamiliar to the ships of our fleet. The icebound shores we see, the rocky islets, and the remote nunataks rising from the ice caps—it is all new to us, and it is particularly exciting for that reason. One of the great pleasures in exploring unknown places is making the association between the shapes and names I have seen on a map to the physical reality of standing (or cruising) on that spot on the globe. Seeing what it really looks like and feels like is exciting. I have wondered about names and places on the map of this region for years, and it’s a real delight to finally visit them and put faces to the names. Huge places like Alexander Island and little details of the crenellated corner of the Antarctic Peninsula: Smyley Island, the Carroll Inlet, Stange Sound and the Ryderfield Peninsula. Today’s journey took us around the huge Beethoven Peninsula, the southwest prominence of Alexander Island. As is the case with many Antarctic place names, there is a theme here: the many large bays and inlets are named for famous European composers. The Brahms Ice Shelf, the Mendelssohn Ice Shelf and so on. We spent this afternoon cruising among the enormous icebergs and floes of pack ice, observing seals and an emperor penguin in Verdi Inlet. On the largest scale, Palmer Land is the most exciting for me. The historic regional name was given to the southern half of the Antarctic Peninsula. Most of the continent is divided into pie slices. The slices bear unofficial names given by explorers of the heroic age or by later geographers to honor those same great men and women and their sponsors. Ellsworth Land, Queen Maud Land and Wilkes Land: they have always intrigued me and piqued my curiosity. The northern half of the Peninsula is Graham Land. In 21 years of visiting the Antarctic, I have never been outside its borders. Now we have cruised the full length of the coast of Palmer Land and come right to the corner of Ellsworth Land. The map has unfolded before us, and a new part of the planet has become real.
We began our morning extra early in Marguerite Bay, well south of the Antarctic Circle. As we opened our Zodiac garage doors, we were greeted with gray skies and light snow falling with 20 knot winds. Boarding our Zodiacs, we traveled to Horseshoe Island. The British Graham Land Expedition (1934-1937) discovered and named this island, which is home to the historic site called Base Y. Base Y was a scientific research hut established in 1955. It lasted until 1960 as a site for daily research on geology, meteorology and topographic surveys. The survey trips often covered hundreds of miles and lasted several months. Researchers used dog teams, sledges and occasionally, a biplane for longer distances. The building offered an incredible look into the lives of those who lived on the base only 70 years ago. A radio room, sledge workshop, bunkrooms, kitchen/living room and a diesel generator on display offered guests a full glimpse into their lifestyle. Outside Base Y, we observed nesting skuas, wandering Adelie penguins and Weddell seals scattered across the ice and beautiful rocks. To finish the morning, we listened to a powerful presentation from Tyrone Tuner, National Geographic photographer, about his time in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. In the afternoon, we were treated to two more presentations. Adam Maire offered a detailed introduction to the explorers and discovery of the Antarctic continent. Afterward, Erin Britton spoke about penguins and their evolution all the way from the dinosaurs. In the evening, we entered the Bellingshausen Sea as we continued our way south. Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen was a Russian naval officer. He was captain of the First Russian Antarctic Expedition from 1819-1820. He led the first expedition to officially record a sighting of mainland Antarctica on January 26, 1820 at the coordinates of 69°21’28”S 2°14’50”W. Onboard, we are very excited to continue heading south and reach areas where no expeditions have gone before.
