Cuverville Island – Neko Harbour – Paradise Bay
Our next stop was Cuverville Island, named in 1898 after Vice-Admiral Jean Marie Armand Cavelier de Cuverville of the French Navy. It is a 2km by 2.5km island, two-thirds of which is covered by a permanent ice-cap. The island is home to breeding Gentoo penguins, kelp gulls, Antarctic terns, snowy sheathbills, blue-eyed shags, Wilson’s storm-petrels, skuas and the beautiful snow petrels.
I was among the few people who decided to go kayaking that morning. It was a cold cold morning and the sea was a bit rough. We first took a mini zodiac cruise along the steep eastern side of Cuverville Island, which gave us great views of the bright orange lichens, penguins and cormorants nesting on the rocky slopes. We launched the kayaks in the lee of the island on the southern end. We paddled towards a low lying island, spotting several Weddell seals resting below the glacier face on Cuverville Island. Impressive glaciers lay to our port side, with evidence of lots of recent calving activity of the glaciers ahead. We also spotted an old water boat and chains from whaling days peeking out of the snow. It was a very enjoyable paddle out even in some steady winds and chilly temperatures. On the way back, in the zodiac, Becs managed to pull out a thermos filled with hot chocolate, a gift from heaven as we were all quite frozen by that point.
Finally, I briefly landed on Cuverville Island. I was flabbergasted, I must say. I had never seen so many penguins in one spot. It was Gentoo capital. The snow was tinted red, the color of the penguin’s excrements (because of all the krill that they eat). The penguins were walking right past us on their little penguin highways that would lead them to the nesting areas. We also spotted a few birds stealing their eggs.
When we got back to the ship, we enjoyed a nice bbq on deck with hot wine and many delicious grilled items. With the abundance of so much delicious food, it was hard to believe we were in Antarctica.
Our next stop was Neko Harbour which lies on the eastern shore of Andvord Bay, approximately 11 km south of the Errera Channel. It was discovered by Gerlache during his Belgian Antarctic expedition (1897-1899). It is named for the floating whale factory ship, Neko, which often used this bay. This site is home to approximately 250 breeding pairs of Gentoo penguins. I decided to do a continental landing and started walking by all of the penguins. We had an incredible view over the glacier, which is notorious for its calvings. Because of the calvings, the beach is also prone to large and unpredictable waves, so you don’t want to linger too long by the water. I walked up the ridge and the view of Andvord Bay got only better and better. As I reached the top of the mountain, we had the most incredible view and I sat down with Luke and Holly for several hours watching the glacier. We were hoping to see a calving, but didn’t. As always, I was among the first people to reach the viewpoint and the last person to leave. It was another breathtaking sight that I’ll never forget.
Finally, we were supposed to go camping that night, but because of the weather, we couldn’t. So instead, we did a third landing at Paradise Bay, which is another Argentinian research station. I was surprised to see many people stay on the boat. But Lisa and I set out for another adventure. Again, we were the first ones to get on shore, and for some reason, Lisa and I decided to run up the hill. Once on top of the hill, we were totally out of breath. We watched a wonderful sunset and teased Frederique, one of the staff members, by having him take a million pictures of us. We stayed until we got kicked out, because only that many people were allowed to be at the top of the hill at any point in time. So Lisa and I were attempting to toboggan down the hill. We had so much fun! We lingered a bit longer at the bottom of the hill to watch the sun disappear behind the mountains before joining the rest of the crew in the bar. It was another packed but unforgettable day.
See more pictures here.
Kayaking Video:
