After we made landfall at Brown Bluff, we were supposed to head to into the Antarctic Sound, but the weather and ice weren’t cooperating, so we headed to the Weddell Sea instead. This is where Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, got stuck in the ice (um, that didn’t happen to us).
From the Weddell we headed back north toward the South Shetland Islands, including Telefon Bay and Deception Island.
The first two dudes are the appropriately named Chinstrap penguins. They peacefully co-exist with the two other breeds we saw – Gentoos and Adelies. In the second photo, you can see the egg below this Gentoo, who also is stained by who knows what. They’re pretty fascinating to just sit and watch and watch and watch. Pretty clumsy on land, they’re amazing swimmers. If you look closely at the third photo you can see a chick underneath the Gentoo.
Deception Island was a landing spot for us; it’s a somewhat still active volcano, and is a caldera, which last had a dangerous eruption in 1969. It provided a great spot for us to hike. Temperature was around freezing, but given the hike, several of us took off our red coats to do the walk to the top.
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