Yankee Harbor, 12/17/2024, National Geographic Explorer
Aboard the
National Geographic Explorer
Antarctica
Despite the wind and the swells, our first landing in Yankee Harbor was absolutely fantastic. We saw the gentoo penguin colony, whalers’ and sealers’ artifacts, and at least 15 elephant seals fighting and having their well-deserved naps.
We spent the afternoon cruising on board National Geographic Explorer, admiring Edinburgh Hill and learning from our naturalists about the wonders of the Antarctic Continent.
Maria Intxaustegi is an internationally awarded maritime archaeologist, naval historian, commercial diver, professional offshore sailor, and expedition guide from the Basque Country.
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Early this morning, we found ourselves in Bransfield Strait. Windy conditions made for excellent viewing of charismatic seabirds, such as black-browed albatrosses, gray-headed albatrosses, southern giant petrels, and pintado (Cape) petrels. We all gathered on deck for our passage through Neptune’s Bellows, the narrow entrance to the huge, flooded caldera of the ancient volcano now known as Deception Island. After breakfast, we were taken by Zodiac to Whalers Bay. We had an opportunity to explore the historic remains of the early 20th-century whaling station and subsequent British Antarctic Survey base. Some of us undertook a two-mile roundtrip hike up onto the caldera rim, where we peered through Neptune’s Window, a rough-hewn gap in the basaltic rock. Antarctic fur seals and gentoo penguins greeted us as we paraded along the beach strewn with artifacts.
We woke to the sound of growlers bumping into the hull of National Geographic Explorer as we sailed into Andvord Bay en route to Neko Harbour. Neko Harbour is comprised of the only section of ice-free rocks in a bay surrounded by tidewater glaciers and the place a colony of gentoo penguins chose to make their summer home. Our guests had the opportunity to enjoy the spectacular views over the glacier from the lower ground or to hike up to a viewpoint overlooking it. The hike wasn’t easy, but everybody agreed it was worth it. Halfway through the morning, katabatic winds came for a visit, and for a little while we got to experience how powerful nature can be this far south. We repositioned to Cuverville Island for our afternoon landing and, fortunately, the wind didn’t follow us. The island offered us more gentoo penguins, luxurious vegetation (for Antarctica), and a bay filled with grounded icebergs. A lot of the penguin chicks are getting close to fledging time, and we were amazed by numerous scenes where the chicks were running after their parents to beg for food.
On the morning of the 18th of February, National Geographic Explorer made its first stop of the day on Petermann Island, and our guests had the option to go ashore for the first time in Antarctica. Petermann Island had quite a few grown chicks, both Adelie chicks and gentoo. For those who did not want to go ashore, they could of course join for a Zodiac cruise. It was a beautiful first stop in Antarctica. In the afternoon, we enjoyed listening to National Geographic Photographer Jason Edwards and our guest speaker from Dartmouth. During dinner we had quite a few humpbacks feeding with us. They were showing incredible displays of lunge feeding and other playful behavior.
