We have enjoyed amazing ocean crossings during this expedition to the Falklands and South Georgia. And ocean crossings aboard National Geographic Explorer are not about downtime. They are filled with interesting presentations that inform us about what we will see or give us more details about what we have been experiencing. It is also a time to go over some of the amazing photographic opportunities that we have enjoyed on this expedition. Our last passage of the trip from West Falkland to the southern part of Tierra del Fuego was no different, we awoke to views of Southern Argentina and Staten Island or Isla de los Estados. Albatrosses and other seabirds flew around the ship as we quickly made our way towards the protected Beagle Channel where we would turn west and skirt the border between Chile and Argentina—the channel is both a natural and geographic boundary of the two countries. There were a few presentations and a briefing about disembarkation from the ship and all the logistics involved. We didn’t want to necessarily think about leaving the ship or the end of the trip, but all great things must come to an end. This expedition has been an amazing experience for us all as we explored the Falkland Islands and then on to South Georgia, one of the premiere wildlife destinations in the world. We have now closed the loop and returned to where we began. Many of us thought about that as we packed our belongings and our memories from this incredible expedition.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 23 Mar 2017
At sea, South America in sight!, 3/23/2017, National Geographic Explorer
- Aboard the National Geographic Explorer
- Antarctica
Jason Kelley, Naturalist
Jason grew up traveling with his oceanographer father and biologist mother, both of whom worked with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic. This led him to a job as a Zodiac driver while still a teenager. After receiving a degree in geology from...
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South Georgia and the Falklands
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3/14/2025
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New Island, Falkland Islands
Our final day of operations for the expedition (and the season) took place at New Island, one of the most beautiful islands in the Falkland Islands. Guests were amazed by the sheer cliffs of the outer coast, home to thousands of rockhopper penguins and even more black-browed albatross. While guests were ashore, the undersea team explored the underwater world of the Falkland Islands. We cruised through the amber forest of giant kelp and photographed the large sun stars but also some of the smaller denizens like tessellated patagonotothen fishes and beautiful purple-lined isopods. The highlight of the dive was one of the largest jellies either of us had seen. A gargantuan lion’s mane jelly was wrapped up in the kelp and its bell was almost 4 feet across. Truly a sight to behold and a favorite when shown to the guests at recap.
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West Point Island
Our destination this afternoon remains my very favorite place in the Falklands. A warm welcome is always given by the caretakers of this lovely place, Theis and Kiki – Swedish and German respectively. They were at the end of their nine years here and we were among the last ships to visit this season. Of course, we visit the island because of the wildlife, and, after a nice forty-minute walk, we arrived at the Devil’s Nose albatross colony. Here, we found thousands of black-browed albatrosses living cheek by jowl with hundreds, if not thousands of rockhopper penguins. It is not always a happy marriage, but generally they get on, the albatross helping protect the penguin eggs and chicks from predation by the local Johnny rooks aka striated caracaras. A good walk deserves a fine afternoon tea, and we were treated to just that back at the farmhouse. In the garden, a yellow rose flowered beautifully overlooking the place where Lars Eric Lindblad’s ashes were scattered.