Aitcho Island, South Shetland Islands
After completing our Drake Passage, the Endeavour arrived in the South Shetland Islands just after lunch.
After boarding Zodiacs we made our first Antarctic landing on the black volcanic sand beach of Aitcho Island. We were greeted by welcoming parties of Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins which seemed curious about the red-jacketed visitors and then returned to the routine of rearing their chicks. This provided our first opportunity to watch the busy activity of the colonies. The breeding season here is already well advanced and there were many large chicks present.
Several large ‘rocks’ on the beach proved to be belching and snorting elephant seals undergoing their annual moult. A little further on an Antarctic fur seal dozed on the beach. Fur seals were abundant in the South Shetland Islands before the discovery of the islands and the advent of sealers in the 1820s. They were effectively wiped out before the end of the 19th century years, since when their numbers have slowly recovered.
Among the many and varied impressions left by the island, one was perhaps most surprising. Antarctica is not simply a monochrome world of rock and snow, but can also be green. At this season when much of the winter snow has melted from the slopes of the island, what is exposed is not simply bare rock. Among the rocks grow delicate tufts of moss which the hikers were careful to avoid trampling, while the slopes of ornithogenic soil (rough translation = years of accumulated penguin poop) are covered in an algal lawn of Prasiola, providing a striking backdrop to the penguins (pictured are a couple of Gentoo Penguins).
A happy group of explorers returned to the Endeavour for the Welcome Cocktail party and Dinner enthused by the first of what will be many memorable experiences as we explore the Antarctic Peninsula.
After completing our Drake Passage, the Endeavour arrived in the South Shetland Islands just after lunch.
After boarding Zodiacs we made our first Antarctic landing on the black volcanic sand beach of Aitcho Island. We were greeted by welcoming parties of Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins which seemed curious about the red-jacketed visitors and then returned to the routine of rearing their chicks. This provided our first opportunity to watch the busy activity of the colonies. The breeding season here is already well advanced and there were many large chicks present.
Several large ‘rocks’ on the beach proved to be belching and snorting elephant seals undergoing their annual moult. A little further on an Antarctic fur seal dozed on the beach. Fur seals were abundant in the South Shetland Islands before the discovery of the islands and the advent of sealers in the 1820s. They were effectively wiped out before the end of the 19th century years, since when their numbers have slowly recovered.
Among the many and varied impressions left by the island, one was perhaps most surprising. Antarctica is not simply a monochrome world of rock and snow, but can also be green. At this season when much of the winter snow has melted from the slopes of the island, what is exposed is not simply bare rock. Among the rocks grow delicate tufts of moss which the hikers were careful to avoid trampling, while the slopes of ornithogenic soil (rough translation = years of accumulated penguin poop) are covered in an algal lawn of Prasiola, providing a striking backdrop to the penguins (pictured are a couple of Gentoo Penguins).
A happy group of explorers returned to the Endeavour for the Welcome Cocktail party and Dinner enthused by the first of what will be many memorable experiences as we explore the Antarctic Peninsula.
