Brown Bluff, Antarctic Sound, Devil Island
The National Geographic Explorer reached the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in the early morning and we found ice conditions conducive to making a landing at Brown Bluff. This wonderful site consists of a long beach backed by a spectacular, rust-colored cliff rising 2,225 feet (675 m) above sea level. The cliff face is actually the exposed interior of a huge cinder volcano that has been cleaved in half and partially washed into the sea (Figure A). Its appearance is not unlike the mesas of the American west, although this is a volcanic structure surrounded by a massive ice cap. Here, we were able to observe scattered nesting gentoo penguins above the landing site, as well as a nearby extensive Adélie penguin colony numbering more than 50,000 nesting pairs at the height of the season. These were our first Adélies, and it was great fun watching the activity between the adults and their fast-developing, hungry chicks. We were especially lucky to encounter a Spring Tide this morning, which also allowed us to explore numerous tide pools below the beach and marvel at the invertebrates swarming in the frigid water.
During lunch, we made our way through the Antarctic Sound, which we affectionately refer to as Iceberg Alley, and spent the next couple hours passing close by numerous gigantic tabular bergs. Just to add to the excitement, we also observed a couple dozen humpback whales scattered about the bergs and managed to follow a very cooperative pod of killer whales into the Weddell Sea.
By late afternoon, we arrived at a small, but important volcanic island known as “the Devil.” It was discovered and named by Otto Nordenskjold during the Swedish South Polar Expedition (1901-1903) and as a result plays and important part in the history of Antarctic exploration. The story of Nordenskjold’s expedition is every bit as exciting as any of the Heroic Age exploits on the White Continent, which of course added great value to our visit here. Devil Island also holds one of the few penguin colonies in the entire region…about 15,000 pairs of Adélie penguins breed here. Most of us opted to go ashore to visit the penguins and hike about the island. Again, like this morning, we encountered lots of frenetic and interesting activity at the dense colony (Figure B). Many people even made it to the top of one of the islands horns, a climb of about 600 feet (200 meters), and were provided with great views of the surrounding area. Others took advantage of the opportunity to explore the surrounding icebergs by way of a Zodiac cruise. This was as far south as we went in the Weddell Sea and after everyone was back aboard, the ship retraced her track back out into the Antarctic Sound (with more beautiful icy scenery along the way) and then continued on towards the western end of the South Shetland Islands.
