Antarctica, Natural History Photography Blog

These Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in Antarctica seem unable to make up their minds which way to go. In fact, they are on a mission, walking from their nests on Paulet Island to the edge of the water, to swim out to sea and forage. I had earlier laid my camera down on the snow alongside the path there were following, and when the penguins strolled up I triggered the camera a few times from 50′ away with a $10 radio trigger I bought on Ebay. The seemed curious about the clicking sound coming from the strange and shiny black box laying on the snow, and stood around looking at it for a while. I made a few fun photos that way, including this one.

A group of Adelie penguins, on packed snow. Image ID: 25021   Species: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

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Photos of Gentoo Penguins on Cuverville Island, Antarctica

Gentoo penguin tending to its two chicks. The nest is made of small stones. Image ID: 25551   Species: Gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua Location: Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

We are gradually working our way south along the western flanks of the Antarctica Peninsula. This afternoon we reach Cuverville Island after a 60 mile transit through the Gerlache Straight from our morning’s visit to Cierva Cove. Cuverville Island hosts a colony of Gentoo Penguins (Pygoscelis papua) and our timing coincides with the Gentoos’ rearing of their chicks. Gentoo nests are made of small stones, and the adults will frequently (almost constantly) steal stones from one another’s nests. It is a humorous situation to watch but I realize the incessent watchfulness and robbery required of their species’ lifestyle must be tiresome for these small kleptomaniacs. Watching the chicks as they are tended by their parents is the highlight of my time on Cuverville Island. They are so tiny and yet incredibly hardy to survive in such bitterly cold and windy surroundings. A Gentoo penguin chick’s home is literally a small shallow ring of stones built on bare rock, exposed to harsh wind, rain, snow and mist from the nearby ocean, with only the bulk and warmth of its parent penguin to offer any meaningful protection from the elements. Brown skuas are constantly present nearby, awaiting an opportunity to swoop in quickly and attack an unprotected penguin chick. Life is difficult here.

Gentoo penguin colony, Cuverville Island. Image ID: 25533   Species: Gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua Location: Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

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Previous: Cierva Cove, Antarctica
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Bailey Head, Deception Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Chinstrap penguins at Bailey Head, Deception Island. Chinstrap penguins enter and exit the surf on the black sand beach at Bailey Head on Deception Island. Bailey Head is home to one of the largest colonies of chinstrap penguins in the world. Image ID: 25455   Species: Chinstrap Penguin, Pygoscelis antarcticus Location: Deception Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

The forecast for this morning was not encouraging: winds up to 35 knots which would generate waves large enough to shut down our ability to land on this steep, exposed, black-sand beach. However, at 6am we found relatively calm seas and little wind at Deception Island, with a smallish swell that caused a little anxiety and some minor mishaps with the zodiacs due to the very steep beach but was not enough to keep us from landing ashore. Bailey Head is a large volcanic plug towering over a long, beautiful black sand beach. Cliffs run the length of the beach. Penguins occupy the edge of the beach for several hundred yards, a mass of black-and-white specks on a black expanse of sand. Seemingly endless columns of chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) waddle back and forth between the beach and the rim of the volcano that comprises the island.

Sunrise in the South Shetland Islands, near Deception Island. Image ID: 25459   Location: Deception Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Distant icebergs, mountains, clouds, ocean at dawn, in the South Shetland Islands, near Deception Island. Image ID: 25460

On the beach, chinstraps nervously gather together waiting for a moment when they can rush en masse down the slope to plunge into the water, swimming rapidly through the shallows to avoid a leopard seal that patrols the shore. What I am seeing is a fascinating spectacle. The sheer number of chinstrap penguins and the constant flow of animals between the heights above and the surf below is impressive. Light rain and some wind comes and goes during our four hours ashore. The light is flat, making for difficult photography. I shoot a few time lapse series, hoping to illustrate the nature of the movement of the many penguins, but it is not easy since we are constrained from going up on the hills above the penguin highway for a better look for fear of displacing the animals from their route. I also shoot some video which will probably be more appealing than the photos, since the video captures the cacophony of the birds and the sounds of the surf. By 11am I am back in a zodiac headed for the boat. I skipped the novelty visit to the hot springs after lunch due to the declining weather. Instead, we watched the hardier folks swimming in the mix of hot springs and icy ocean water, under falling snow and blowing wind. Hard core.

Chinstrap penguins, Bailey Head, Deception Island. Image ID: 25456   Species: Chinstrap Penguin, Pygoscelis antarcticus

Next: Cierva Cove, Antarctica
Previous: Brown Bluff, Antarctica
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
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Photos of Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Our approach to Brown Bluff took us across a broad sound complete with blue sky and many scenic bergs, then into a thick fog bank as we left the sound and entered a narrower passage with clouds and cold air pouring down to the water from the glaciers on each side (glaciers make their own weather).

Tabular iceberg in the Antarctic Sound. Image ID: 24783   Location: Antarctic Sound, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Tabular iceberg in the Antarctic Sound. Image ID: 24784   Location: Antarctic Sound, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Brown Bluff, an aptly named large rock promontory situated between two glaciers, appeared before us as we approached through a clearing in the fog. Many small bergs were floating just offshore of the bluff, so the big boat was anchored a ways off and we accessed the bluff and its cobblestone beaches with a half mile zodiac run. Several types of penguins nest below the bluff, and are constantly leaving and arriving via the beach. I headed away from the penguins and people to a swath of beach that fronted a long, rolling edge of an ice field.

Brown Bluff, the eroded remains of an extinct volcanic structure, below which many penguins and seabirds nest. Image ID: 24809   Location: Antarctic Sound, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Horizontal striations and layers in packed snow, melting and overhanging, seen from the edge of the snowpack, along a rocky beach. Image ID: 24782   Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

The 30’ ice field ended abruptly almost at the water, leaving a strip of about 50’ of cobblestone beach upon which to walk. The edge of the ice revealed horizontal striations about a foot apart. Were they created by seasonal accumulations of dark dirt blown on top of white snow, or where they perhaps picked from the soil below? I think this interesting “wave” of ice overhanging the beach was the edge of an icefield, rather than a glacier proper, but am not sure. I set about trying to photograph it with my widest lens, contrasting the undulating striations in the wall of ice against the more uniform dark of the beach and the water. It grew cloudy. Water dripped off the ice, wetting the cobbles that would otherwise be dry. I waded out into the water to inspect a few small bergs that had grounded on the shore. Penguins would occasionally swim by me, nearly bumping my legs as they zoomed through the shallows to exit the water onto the beach. Sometimes one would notice me and stop, sticking its head above water and giving me a look-over, swimming about my legs once before moving on its way. Curious little guys.

Adelie penguin on an iceberg. Image ID: 25006   Species: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Adelie penguins walking on a stone beach. Image ID: 25012   Species: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

After scrambling over the rocks to get back to the landing site, I rejoined some others and looked about the bluff area to get a sense of all the different bird activity that was happening. Vic was lying down on the cobbles, allowing groups of penguins to pass him by as they walked along the beach. I joined him and soon had a group of 20 or so birds approach far too close for me to take any pictures. They chose a spot 3’ in front of me to make their mad dash into the water. I did not see any leopard seals so I think their concern – and their panicky group entrance into the ocean – was unwarranted, but they must use that method always out of habit or instinct.

Adelie penguins leaping into the ocean from an iceberg. Image ID: 25005   Species: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Icicles and melting ice, hanging from the edge of an blue iceberg. Is this the result of climate change and global warming?. Image ID: 24803   Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Later we hopped in a zodiac with Hugh and cruised around among the bergs. This was the highlight of the day. Hugh managed to find a group of Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) that were diving into the water from a sloping edge of a berg, and we got some nice shots. He then topped that with a group of 14 birds on an even-more-scenic berg, all of whom entered the water from a 5’ ledge. Some of the photos that others (with widers lenses than I) got in that instance were stunning, really suitable for fine art. I got a couple keepers too. Finally he drove our boat into the basin of a hand-shaped berg, with all five fingers protuding 10-20’ out of the water. A 50’ wide basin about 10’ deep was formed between the fingers, large enough for us to take the boat into and slowly maneuver. The whole thing glowed with that cool iceberg blue glow. It sounds simple and unremarkable but the colors were simply out of this world and everyone in our little group was moved by how stunning the color and shape of this berg was. By now the fog had returned and we could see neither beach, nor boat. We were zipping on grey water upon which no horizon could be discerned, between white and blue bergs. Eventually we found the big boat, and the landing, and reclaimed our stuff from the beach before returning to the big boat for dinner.

Visitors enjoy an inflatable ride through the strange environs of a bizarrely-shaped iceberg, on a cloudy day. Image ID: 24995   Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Next: Bailey Head, Deception Island, Antarctica
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Photos of Zodiac Cruising in Antartica

I was able to spend quite a bit of time sightseeing and photographing from a Zodiac (inflatable) while in Antarctica. These hours were some of the most special of the trip. In some ways, one has more freedom of movement while in a zodiac than one does on land in Antarctica. Certainly the perspective one gains, while moving about at the water’s edge, is appealing. After spending the day ashore at Paulet Island, I elected to join Hugh Rose and Patrick Endres in a zodiac that they were driving, to look for penguins on small icebergs and just enjoy the surroundings before we departed that evening. We came upon some beautiful small bergs that afternoon, the most interesting of which was this pockmarked chunk:

Iceberg with scalloped erosion. The eroded indentations on this iceberg were melted when this portion of the iceberg was underwater. As it melted, the iceberg grew topheavy, eventually flipping and exposing this interesting surface. Image ID: 24789   Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Later, we had the very good fortune to raft up alongside an iceberg that was carrying some inquisitive Adelie penguins, who immediately walked across the berg to meet us and seemed as if they wanted to hop in our boat! (See my blog entry about the penguin encounter.) The sun cleared some clouds and cast low, warm, flat light on the little birds, while the clouds in the distance remained dark — a photographer’s dream. I was able to shoot some fun images of them, including the one below as well as one that became the recent cover of Nature’s Best Magazine.

A curious Adelie penguin, standing at the edge of an iceberg, looks over the photographer. Image ID: 25015   Species: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Patrick was keen on photographing the ice, so the rest of us in the boat took notice (at least I did) and made some photos too. It is just like photographing snowflakes, no two views are alike. I knew I was never going to be able to photograph even a tiny fraction of the beautiful Antarctic ice that surrounded us, and resigned myself to just trying to make a few good ones.

Photographer Patrick Endres works alongside an iceberg near Paulet Island. Image ID: 24996   Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Iceberg detail. Image ID: 24900   Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

After we returned to the icebreaker M/V Polar Star, the captain took us on a long cruise through some nearby channels, offering us sunset views that I will never forget. I lashed one of my cameras to the ship’s wheel house and shot a cool timelapse of our sunset cruise.

Tabular iceberg, Antarctic Peninsula, near Paulet Island, sunset. Image ID: 24778   Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

The edge of the fast ice along the shore, near Paulet Island. Image ID: 24788   Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Next: Devil Island, Antarctica
Previous: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
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