Foyn Harbor (Enterprise Islands) and Cuverville Island
Early this morning, during breakfast, National Geographic Explorer anchored in a very protected spot called Foyn Harbor. It is named for the Norwegian whaler who invented the exploding harpoon, which along with fast steam-powered ships, revolutionized the whaling industry in the late 19th century. This idyllic setting is actually the central location of a group of small islands known as the Enterprise Group, near the eastern end of Nansen Island (in the middle of the Gerlache Strait). Captain Kruese anchored the ship right near the wreckage and debris of an old iron whaling ship called the GOUVENØREN, which dates to the early part of the 20th century. This was one of the first factory whaling ships and had state of the art technology in its day. She operated during two summer seasons down here and was responsible for processing nearly 1,000 whales before she was destroyed by fire in 1915. The whales had their revenge, because the vast storage of whale oil on board must have contributed to the destructive fire which became so hot it nearly melted some of the wrought iron railings near the water line. The islands in this group are relatively small, but are especially impressive in that they are covered by ice caps…some of which had recently dropped some bergy bits about the region for our amusement. In addition to the beautiful scenery and historic aspects of the archipelago, we also encountered several Antarctic fur seals, as well as nesting Antarctic terns, skuas, and kelp gulls on the exposed rocks.
In the afternoon, we sailed southward in the Gerlache Strait to Cuverville Island. This small, but highly elevated rocky island is strategically situated in the middle of the Errera Channel between Ronge Island and the Arctowski Peninsula on the mainland. The entire time we were ashore here, we heard loud rumblings from the surrounding glaciers as they crunched their way down to the sea (Figure A). One major avalanche was also witnessed over on the mainland. Cuverville is an important breeding site for about 5,000 pairs of gentoo penguins, as well as giant petrels, pintado petrels, snow petrels, Wilson’s storm-petrels, blue eyed shags, sheathbills, skuas, gulls, and terns. We saw all these species, as well as Antarctic fur seals, one Weddell seal, lots of crabeater seals, and a few leopard seals. This island is also rich in vegetation, including extensive moss beds, lichens, and clumps of hair grass (one of only two flowering plant species in Antarctica). Many people climbed high up on the ice cap and were rewarded with spectacular views in spectacular conditions. A highlight this afternoon was cruising in our Zodiacs around some of the enormous icebergs grounded in the shallow waters near the island. It’s always fun to try to figure out the history of icebergs by analyzing their shapes, textures, and erosional lines (Figure B).
From Cuverville Island, we continued southward and later cruised through Paradise Bay, where we enjoyed near perfect conditions with great visibility and a clear view of the mountains rising straight up into heaven…hence the name for the place. We discussed a little more history as we passed the two bases located in the bay: Gonzales Videla (Chilean) and Brown (Argentine). People remained out on deck very late this evening as we continued scenic cruising ever southward.
