Saturday 19 December 2009

Yankee Harbour and Half-moon island


This morning we traversed the Bransfield Strait heading to the South Shetland Islands. The sea was calm and a bit foggy, but we could make out the rocky outcrops of Deception Island and had a wonderful view of Livingston Island as we sailed past.


We landed at Yankee H
arbour, a long spit of gravel that reaches into the sea from Greenwich Island. It was a fabulous landing for experiencing wildlife: we saw two giant petrels feeding on a dead fur seal, a bunch of juvenile elephant seals huddling on the beach against the cold wind, several Weddel seals, and, naturally, yet more gentoo penguins!

We closed the day in Half-moon Island, where passengers were delighted to finally see their third penguin, the chinstrap. Skuas maintained vigil overhead as we left this, our last landing of the trip.