SouthAmerica/AntarcticaCruise: Antarctica (Day 5)

For our fifth stop in Antarctica we dropped anchor in Brown Bluff on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. This area is called Brown Bluff because of its steep slopes and brown-to-black rock face formed by a volcano that erupted under a glacier about a million years ago. The beach is a cobblestone and ash beach. Permanent ice and tidewater glaciers surround the site.

Approaching Brown Bluff

Brown Bluff and cobblestone beach formed by volcano

Penguin colonies all the way up the Bluff

Brown Bluff is home to thousands of breeding pairs of Adelie Penguins, which are mid-sized penguins with black heads and beaks with a white ring around their eyes. For some reason, they like nesting on the high bluffs which makes their long treks back and forth to the sea look like a lot of work to us humans. They are very entertaining and the white ring around their eyes makes their stares intriguing as if they are deep thinkers. However, the penguin expert told us they are not the smartest animal in kingdom. The Adelies, like the Gentoos and Chinstraps, can't seem to make a decision on their own. They congregate, squawk among themselves, look around and finally make a move...hilarious behavior.

Our Blue Group went ashore at 2:00 to explore the area. There were hundreds of nesting penguins on shore, many of which were incubating the eggs in their nests and some had young chicks. One of the Expedition Team members set up a telescope at the edge of the penguin colony and set the site on one of the nests with a young chick. We all got to see the interaction of the parents with the young chick through the powerful lens of the telescope. Also, there were large predator birds called Skuas constantly flying over the colony looking to swoop down and pick up an egg or chick out of the nests as the penguins struggled to protect their young. We were able to witness that whole battle of nature up close.

Welcoming committee of Adelie Penguins

Adelie Penguin with black head and beak and white eye ring

Long waddle to the sea

Love on the rocks
Adelies on their nests of rocks

Skua bird goes after penguin egg

Adelies on their nests - smelly and busy

After exploring Brown Bluff we pulled up anchor and sailed south and west through an area known for its tabular icebergs which are icebergs that have broken off from ice fields instead of glaciers so they are very large and have a flat top and vertical sides. They can be miles in length. For example, there is one tabular iceberg called the B15 that was first identified in 2000 and is believed to be the largest iceberg ever recorded. At the time, it was 170 miles long and 25 miles wide. Since then, parts have broken off. During this part of our trip we saw some massive tabular icebergs that we wondered if they might be some of B15's remnants.