Torgersen Island, Palmer Station, Antarctica
The shades of gray, black, white and brown seen in this picture imbued our entire day of exploration in the Palmer Archipelago of the Antarctic Peninsula. We began with Zodiac cruises and kayaking in Paradise Harbor. Majestic mountains clad in snow and ice ring this quiet bay and a heavy cloud cover hung low on their slopes. Ink black rock supported the massive glaciers and, in places too steep to hold snow or ice, imperial shags made their nests. Some guests went ashore at an abandoned Argentine base, Almirante Brown, and enjoyed close looks at a gentoo penguin colony situated among the buildings. Many also floated and paddled about in kayaks as a gentle snowfall filled the calm air. Still others ventured deeper into the harbor in Zodiacs to see what could be seen: ice of all shapes and textures, minke whales slipping through the cold water and surfacing with a strong but soft “whoosh” of respiration, seals on ice floes and the inimitable gentoos swimming beneath the glass surface like torpedo streaks of black, white and red.
The afternoon arrived and we were anchored at Palmer Station, a U.S., National Science Foundation supported research station located on Anvers Island. The good folks there gave us a presentation on board followed by a grand tour of the station and a visit to Torgersen Island where a long-studied population of Adelie penguins nest. It was there that a commotion erupted out of thin air and our attention was drawn to two Antarctic skuas attacking an immature kelp gull. It was an aerial mugging and the two skuas quickly had the gull pinned to the rocks near shore. The struggle went on and then somehow the kelp gull escaped, was attacked, and then escaped again. This time it got airborne and, last seen (pictured, bird on the left), was barely keeping ahead of one of the skuas as the two rounded a corner of rocks. Life is never certain in Antarctica, especially when skuas are about.
The shades of gray, black, white and brown seen in this picture imbued our entire day of exploration in the Palmer Archipelago of the Antarctic Peninsula. We began with Zodiac cruises and kayaking in Paradise Harbor. Majestic mountains clad in snow and ice ring this quiet bay and a heavy cloud cover hung low on their slopes. Ink black rock supported the massive glaciers and, in places too steep to hold snow or ice, imperial shags made their nests. Some guests went ashore at an abandoned Argentine base, Almirante Brown, and enjoyed close looks at a gentoo penguin colony situated among the buildings. Many also floated and paddled about in kayaks as a gentle snowfall filled the calm air. Still others ventured deeper into the harbor in Zodiacs to see what could be seen: ice of all shapes and textures, minke whales slipping through the cold water and surfacing with a strong but soft “whoosh” of respiration, seals on ice floes and the inimitable gentoos swimming beneath the glass surface like torpedo streaks of black, white and red.
The afternoon arrived and we were anchored at Palmer Station, a U.S., National Science Foundation supported research station located on Anvers Island. The good folks there gave us a presentation on board followed by a grand tour of the station and a visit to Torgersen Island where a long-studied population of Adelie penguins nest. It was there that a commotion erupted out of thin air and our attention was drawn to two Antarctic skuas attacking an immature kelp gull. It was an aerial mugging and the two skuas quickly had the gull pinned to the rocks near shore. The struggle went on and then somehow the kelp gull escaped, was attacked, and then escaped again. This time it got airborne and, last seen (pictured, bird on the left), was barely keeping ahead of one of the skuas as the two rounded a corner of rocks. Life is never certain in Antarctica, especially when skuas are about.
