We spent a full day around this huge colony of Black-browed Albatross on Steeple Jason on the Falkland Islands. The colony stretches for 5 kilometers along the coast and is some 200m wide. It contains about 100,000 breeding pairs. We got to see the full spectrum of...
We saw Rockhopper Penguins at several sites we visited in the Falkland Islands. This group were filmed on Saunders Island. It was remarkable watching them deal comfortably with the heavy surf. Whilst at times ungainly on land, however they have no trouble hopping up...
A large male Type C Orca checking out the ice edge. We had sailed from the Ross Ice shelf into McMurdo Sound. We visited the historic huts of Scott and Shackleton (outstanding experience!) and then headed to the ice channel created by the icebreaker Polar Star to...
We arrived in the early morning getting our first glimpse of Ross Island and Mount Terror and soon after the ice shelf could be seen. This was named “The barrier” by the early Antarctic explorers since it represented an impenetrable barrier to their progress. The ice...
Antarctic Minke Whales. As we sailed along the Ross Ice Shelf we spotted the distant blows of Antarctic Minke Whales feeding just in front of the ice cliff. As we approached we realised there were about 30 of these animals and they were feeding on the upwelling of...
As we rounded Cape Bird en route to Cape Royd (Shackleton’s hut) and Cape Evans (Scott’s hut) with its large Adelie Penguin colony, we ran into some dense pack ice. The Captain took the Spirit of Enderby gently and skillfully through the ice. We enjoyed the...
Crabeater Seals lounging on the pack ice. After sailing south for four days, we arrived off Cape Adare early in the morning. The sea was calm and the sun was shining. The ship was surrounded by ice bergs glistening in the bright sunshine. The peaks of Antarctica were...
Numerous Adelie Penguins occupied the ice floes: everyone’s idea of the archetypal penguin. After sailing south from Macquarie Island for four days, we arrived off Cape Adare early in the morning. The sea was calm and the sun was shining. The ship was surrounded by...
After sailing south from Macquarie Island for four days, we arrived off Cape Adare early in the morning. The sea was calm and the sun was shining. The ship was surrounded by ice bergs glistening in the bright sunshine. The peaks of Antarctica were visible ahead of us....
The Antarctic Petrel is often gregarious and will form large flocks. They are often seen near the pack ice and icebergs. They have a wing span of abut 1m and weigh 675g. Performs distinctive stiff winged glides.
This unmistakable, pigeon sized bird has distinctive markings. A very manoeuvrable flyer has stiff and shallow wing beats followed by short glides. They are well known to follow ships.
One of the small albatrosses, breeding is mostly restricted to Campbell Island but they disperse widely in the non-breeding season. They have a wing span of around 2m and weigh in at up to 3.8kg. They are very similar to the Black-browed Albatross. Remarkably little...
These stocky little birds have a wingspan of about 75-95cm and are very similar to the Lesser Snow Petrel. That feed mostly on fish, crustacea and cephalopods by surface diving, surface seizing and contact dipping. They are monogamous and form long-term pair-bonds.
The South Polar Skua is large gull-like Skua with very striking white primary flashes. They would glide effortlessly around the ship.
Our circumnavigation of these Islands gave us a chance to see many species. These Southern Elephant Seals put on a nice display against an impressive backdrop.
On our 2016 circumnavigation of the Falkland Islands, we visited a number of Gentoo Penguin colonies. All had chicks of varying ages. The penguins defend their nests aggressively and noisily so the colony seems to be one mass of squabbling birds.
On Bird Island there were many South American Fur Seals with their young.
Watching these amazing birds was a real privilege. A little ungainly on land but adept swimmers. A mixture of Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins can be seen returning from fishing trips.