My Diary - still lost
This day may have been one of my favorites. Elephant Island is the island that Shackleton left his men on when he went to find help. The weather was terrible and i felt for the poor guys that were stuck here for months waiting to see if they would be rescued.
We had a lots of fun and also saw some amazing wildlife.
It was snowing overnight at the decks and boats were covered in snow
The scale of the glaciers was incredible, the cruises allowed up to get really close
Mike, Chris, Julie and Sara, brewing up a little mischeif!
First photos of chinstrap penguins.
A monolith and bronze bust of Captain Luis Pardo Villalon, the Yelcho’s master, was placed here by the XXIVth Chilean Antarctic Scientific Expedition in 1987-88. This was the vessel that eventually rescued Shackleton and his men.
This ice berg was just glowing
The boats look tiny. This really was a very special day. 
And so the trouble begins. Sara and Chris warming up their hands after preparing some weapons of mass deffence.........JPG)
The temptation was to much to resist. We were first back on the ship and bombarded the Zodiacs as they returned.
Chris as Joel were the real targets. Once they had dropped their passengers off it was all out war.
But soon it was to late and there was a surprise attack.......
.....sadly i was cornered and it was all over.
Revenge was sweet.
Leaving Elephant Island
Captain Jacek navigating us through to Gibbs Island
Home of hundreds of Chinstrap penguins
Another Zodiac cruise in the cold but it was brilliant. We had seen our first leopard seal, the Apex predator of the Antarctic.
Great shot of a chinstrap, by Ursula
As we went round the bay we saw a leopard seal on the beach being tormented by a sheaths bill. Leaopard seals are not very agile on land but they are dangerous in the water.
Adelie penguins are normally found firther south but here you can see the black face of a lost and lonely Adelie.
The tops of the cliffs were covered in breeding Chinstraps.
And here they are coming down for a swim and a feed.
Up close, there things really are cute.
Sunday 16th November - Elephant Island & Gibbs Island
Time: 12:00Latitude: 61° 04.3' S
Longitude: 54° 41.2' W
Wind: Force 3 South West
Sea Conditions: Moderate (wave height 1.25 – 2.50m)
Pressure: 1003 mbTemperature: 0ºC
The ship’s early birds were the first to see Elephant Island this morning, evidently basking in sunshine at 04:30, sadly no expedition staff were on deck to verify this claim. The rest of us were greeted with a completely different climate as we popped our heads out of various doors and portholes at around 07:00 to be met by a snow blizzard and poor visibility. Our first sight of snow POINT WILD Situated about 7 miles west of Cape Valentine on the north coast of Elephant Island,this famous historical outpost played ‘home’ to 22 of Shackleton’s men for the four months they were stranded here. It is hard to imagine the strength of human determination which could have sustained life on this desolate spit of land for so long.
The point is named after Frank Wild, Shackleton’s right hand man and Elephant Islandcamp commander, who is renowned for his incredible leadership and compassionduring these desperate months. Shackleton left these shores in his famous open boat, the James Caird, and successfully made his way to South Georgia where he organised a rescue ship for the men he had left behind. On August 30th 1916 he returned with the vessel Yelcho and found all of his men alive. A monolith and bronze bust of Captain Luis Pardo Villalon, the Yelcho’s master, was placed here by the XXIVth Chilean Antarctic Scientific Expedition in 1987-88.
On deck created a boisterous atmosphere over breakfast and an early queue formed on deck 3 as we eagerly awaited our Zodiacs. John Harrison lowered the first boat of the morning and found it full of snow as it had been stored on top of the pile on deck 6; he had a tough job preparing it for his 10 passengers. Our Zodiacs took us right around the bay, often in large swells, where we saw chinstrap penguins in their thousands high up above us on the rocky outcrops. Pintados (capepetrels) were seen in flight all around the bay, identified by their black upper wings splashed with irregular white patches.
Ian sent a message out over the radios to alert us to the presence of nesting Antarctic terns. The staff took their boats in as close as they could to the rocks on which Pardo’s bust sits in order to get photos of his historic tribute. We cut small paths thought the brash ice atthe snout of the glacier that protrudes dramatically into the bay. Although not advancing, this iceflow is active and regularly carves, depositing small bergs, bergy bits and growlers into the waterbelow. Meanwhile, John Harrison was having technical difficulties with the electrics in his Zodiac.Chris came to his aid, creating a two boat raft and towing him into a safe location while the problem was resolved.
Once all passengers were onboard the ship, the drivers became aware of a small army mobilising above them on deck 5. Led by the likes of Sara, Michael, Christine, Julie and Fernando, this group of young trouble makers showered wave upon wave of snowballs down on the unsuspecting staff below. Dealing with large swells, the control of their boats and their opposition’s height advantage, the team managed to hold their own long enough to get back to the ship and settle a few scores out on the battlefields of deck 4.
We ate our lunch as the ship repositioned to Gibbs Island, a four hour navigation with an estimated time of arrival of 16:00. The Zodiac cruising began with a short motor from the ship into the bay which took us past groups of pintados and chinstrap penguins on the water. As the first boat approached the rocks that sat off the beach, Chris Pike turned to his driver and pointed to a spot where he said he’d seen a leopard seal. Moments later it reappeared, this time the whole boat was ready and we saw the serpentine head break the surface; our first leopard seal sighting of the expedition. The large seal, sleek dark grey with a mottled light grey underside, made a few passes close to the boat and eventually swam right underneath us and off across the bay.
At one point, all 9 boats came together at a small beach to watch a large group of chinstrap penguins. Ian pointedout two Adélie penguins amid the sea of chinstraps which could be easily distinguished by their 18 black heads and white eye rings. The snow that surrounded the penguins was stained a reddish colour by their guano which owes its pigment to the krill that is their chief source of nourishment.
As we watched the penguins arrive and leave the beach on feeding missions, various people noticed the surface of the water breaking just offshore, revealing sleek sections of the apex predators of Antarctica. The leopard seals were waiting for their prey, biding their time until the perfect moment to strike one of the birds that are forced to make the dangerous dash from the shore into deeper water in search of food. Later in the cruise some of the boats were lucky enough to see a leopard seal attack and successfully catch a chinstrap penguin; bringing it to the surface to flay it in dramatic fashion.
While this drama was unfolding, a number of boats had undertaken the short drive around the headland to explore the adjacent bay and found a small gathering of chinstrap penguins stood on arock close to the shore. It was a perfect spot to nose the Zodiac up and have a closer look at the birds. Ian radioed all drivers in the vicinity to take at look at a comical scenario which was unfolding on a nearby beach. A bold sheathbill was relentlessly pecking at the flippers of alarge leopard seal obviously causing it amild annoyance. Every time the seal was jabbed it would swing round to challenge its attacker only to find that the cheeky bird had scurried right round to its other flank and was resuming its assault far from the jagged jaws.
Conditions on the water were getting progressively worse and our drivers were pleased when the radio called them back to the ship. Likewise, we were beginning to feel the chill of the waves that licked across the bows of the rubber boats and were ready to head to the gangway.After dinner we joined Gary for his lecture A Floating World which described the formation and seasonal changes in the sea ice around Antarctica. When the presentation came to a close there was time for questions and then we dispersed, to our cabins, for a spot of fresh air on deck or to the Polar Bar for a drink.
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