On our second day exploring Staten Island, Argentina, we went ashore at San Juan de Salvamento bay to visit the famous ‘lighthouse at the end of the world’, which inspired Jules Verne’s eponymous novel. We walked into the Magellanic subpolar forest on a sunny warm morning, and at the top of the hill we were able to enter the lighthouse and explore its surroundings. Up there, under the cloudless sky, several striated caracara were flying close to us.
Before heading back to the National Geographic Explorer, we scouted the shores on our Zodiacs and found groups of sea lions and a big colony of rockhopper penguins that spread high upon the island’s cliffs. The mountain climbers of the penguin family, they truly showed us how they live up to their name as this colony rose by the thousands into the heights of these 700-foot-high rock walls.
Back on board, while everybody was enjoying an excellent lunch, the announcement of a killer whale sighting made us jump from our seats and make a beeline for the observation decks. What a sight! Several groups of whales were hunting sea lion and fur seals, and surging the waters around us. Our captain navigated the National Geographic Explorer looking for these whales and kept us close to action at all times. The whales took turns stalking the seals, as we saw calves, females, and two big males hunting them. Big flocks of sea birds—giant petrels, migrant albatross, southern royals—were watching the action as well, waiting to feed on the scraps left behind.
It was a magical afternoon that finished with a slice of summer in the sun deck of the ship, enjoying the sunsets, to the beat of good music, and buffalo wings with cocktails.
Tomorrow, we continue to explore Staten Island and its surroundings, as we approach Observatory Island for more wildlife adventures.
