Saturday January 27th 2024
Neko Harbour & Cuverville Is.
Antarctic Peninsular
Expedition Morning
This morning, depending on wind, weather and ice conditions, we plan to have a landing at Neko Harbour.
Expedition Afternoon
This afternoon, depending on wind, weather and ice conditions, we plan to have a landing on Cuverville Is.
So far, all of our landings had been on the surrounding islands off the coast of the Antarctic peninsula. And although the islands are geographically and officially part of Antartica, we technically still haven’t set foot on the actual continent. It’s like saying you’ve visited a country when you only sat in the airport waiting for your connection. Doesn’t count!!! However, today, our excursion to Neko Harbour was going to be a continental landing. Yay!!
On our way to Neko Harbour
First Landing
Our inaugural step on the continent was onto a scenic beach framed by a colossal glacier on the left, and in front, uphill from us, several rocky outcrops teeming with penguins.
We followed a winding trail that meandered alongside two separate Gentoo Penguin colonies. We watched in fascination as some Gentoos tended to fluffy newborn chicks, others stretched their necks and bellowed into the sky, while another group waddled down the penguin highway to the shore. It was a bustling scene of activity, and the penguins’ antics never got old.
Once we had our fill of Happy Feet, we climbed up a snowy ridge to a vista point, where we were rewarded with an astonishingly, stunning clear view of Neko Harbour.
Unlike the day before, when we experienced a typical wintry Antarctic summer, we were greeted with bright blue skies, full-on sunshine, and no wind—a rarity for Antarctica, or so we were told.
Back on the ship during lunch, we ended up missing a couple of Humpback Whales breaching over and over again because we were too busy pigging out. However, later on, we saw two whales doing this thing called “logging,” where whales quietly float on the water’s surface to rest, resembling giant logs. What a special treat to observe this activity for the first time, revealing yet another fascinating aspect of whale behavior!
A Gentoo Reminder
The afternoon excursion took us to Cuverville Island, home to the largest Gentoo colony in the region, boasting about 5,000 breeding pairs. It offered more incredible scenery, more penguin highways and more Gentoo antics.
There was an option to hike up to a higher peak for a panoramic view of Cuverville and beyond. However, about halfway up, people were stopped in their tracks due to the soft snow, making further progress impossible. They resorted to sitting on the snow, contentedly soaking in the view. We spent the rest of our time at the shoreline, watching the Gentoos meticulously scour the area for the perfect pebble to build their fortress-like nests—a Gentoo reminder of their adorable quirks and nesting habits.
Before returning to the ship, our zodiac took an unexpected detour to check out a large female leopard seal camping out on an ice floe.
We ended the day with a lecture on orcas by John, our Marine Biologist Extraordinaire.
It's Opener There 
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