Album Antarctica from Gudrun

Elephant seals and giant petrels

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 07:47:09 +0000

Gudrun has posted:

Antarctic wildlife at Walker Bay/ Hannah Point on Livingston Island.
Juvenile male elephant seals resting on the black lava sands of Walker Bay with Giant Petrels nesting nearby.
At Hannah Point and neighbouring Walker Bay there are also breeding colonies of Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins and even one or two pairs of Macaroni penguins, all close together.
Only 100 passengers at one time (and ships with no more than 200) are allowed there and they have to split up into groups of ten with a guide so that the animals aren't disturbed.

www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/southern_elephant_seals.php

www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/giant_petrels.php

Junge Seeelefanten-Männchen und Riesensturmvögel am schwarzen Lavastrand der Walker Bay/ Hannah Point auf Livingston Island.
Außerdem gibt es dort Pinguin-Brutkolonien zweier Pygoscelis-Arten und sogar einige versprengte Macaroni.Pinguine, alle dicht gedrängt.
Nur maximal 100 Paxe gleichzeitig (und Schiffe mit nicht mehr als 200) dürfen anlanden und diese dürfen sich nur in 10er-Gruppen unter der Aufsicht eines Guide bewegen, um die Tiere nicht zu stören.

Mirounga leonina

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 11:22:22 +0000

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SC189- Animals in the wild

Southern elephant seals are the world's largest true seals, the bulls can reach a weight of 3500-4000kg and a length of 6,5m.

At Hannah Point/ Walker Bay on Livingston Island (South Shetland Islands, a group of volcanic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula) juvenile male elephant seals come to rest and moult.

Because of the high concentration of diverse wildlife, the rare vegetation and the geologigal features (fossils and a red jasper dyke) visits are very restricted.
I felt privileged to see the huge elephant seals and was glad to have managed a decent shot.

This week I only found a pair of (wild) storks, they had chosen to build their nest not in the wild but in our zoo. With the river nearby and a protected environment for their nest they have the best of both worlds;-)

Pygoscelis antarctica

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Mon, 31 May 2021 09:50:36 +0000

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There's a large breeding colony of Chinstrap penguins at Bailey Head, Deception Island, and the odd penguin also turns up round the corner at the black lava beach of of Whaler's Bay.
www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/chinstrap-penguins.php

Bailey Head auf Deception Island hat eine große Brutkolonie von Zügelpinguinen. Vereinzelte Exemplare tauchen auch ein Stück weiter am schwarzen Lavastrand von Whaler's Bay auf.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCgelpinguin

Desolation on Deception Island

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 12:27:33 +0000

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Ruins of former Chilean research station Aguirre Cerda at Pendulum Cove, built in 1955 and destroyed in the 1967 and 1969 eruptions. The water at Pendulum Cove is still thermally "heated", that is, warmer than its surroundings. Daring tourists can take a plunge but it's still very cold;-)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguirre_Cerda_Research_Station

Ruinen der früheren chilenischen Forschungsstation Aguirre Cerda in Pendulum Cove. Bei den Ausbrüchen 1967/1969 wurde die 1955 gegründete Station total zerstört.
Das Wasser in Pendulum Cove hat noch vulkanische Restwärme und man kann dort baden, mir war es aber deutlich zu kalt;-)

Deception Island

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 04:35:58 +0000

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Deception Island is part of the subantarctic South Shetland Islands and an active volcano. Through a 400m wide breach, called Neptune's Bellows, the sheltered harbour of the flooded caldera can be reached. The photo looks back from the entrance of Neptune's Bellows to Bailey Head (left) and the Sewing Machine Needles (right) with Livingston Island in the distance.
www.deceptionisland.aq

Deception Island ist Teil der subantarktischen South Shetland Inseln und ein aktiver Vulkan. Durch eine 400m breite Bresche, Neptuns Blasebalg genannt, gelangen Schiffe in den geschützten Hafen der überfluteten Caldera. Auf dem Foto ein Blick zurück vom Eingang zu Neptuns Blasebalg, links Bailey Head und rechts die "Nähmaschinennadeln", Livingston Island ist im Hintergrund gerade noch zu erkennen.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_Island

Pygoscelis papua

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 05:55:36 +0000

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Gentoo and chicks on Cuverville Island. Cuverville has one of the largest breeding colonies with 6500 pairs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentoo_penguin

Eselspinguine auf Cuverville Island, wo eine der größten Kolonien mit 6500 Brutpaaren zu finden ist. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eselspinguin

Cuverville Island

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 05:37:19 +0000

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Cuverville Island lies in Errera Channel between Arctowski peninsula and Rongè Island. It has a very large breeding colony of gentoo penguins (6500 pairs). The expedition ship in the background was the Polar Pioneer- their passengers were reluctant to leave Cuverville and we had to do some extra Zodiac cruising before they were off;-)

Cuverville ist eine kleine Insel im Errera Kanal, die zwischen der Arctowski-Halbinsel und der Nordspitze von Rongé Island liegt. Im Sommer brütet eine der größten Kolonien von Eselspinguinen (6500 Brutpaare) dort. Im Hintergrund das Expeditionsschiff Polar Pioneer- deren Paxe verliessen Cuverville nicht pünktlich, sodass wir einige Extra-Runden mit den Zodiacs drehen mussten.

Shall I jump back in?

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 04:48:53 +0000

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We saw this Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) during a Zodiac tour of Errera Channel between Danco and Cuverville Island.

Green Antarctica

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 08:12:37 +0000

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View from Danco Island towards Arctowski peninsula. On a day with temperatures above zero there were rivulets of meltwater running downhill. The green colour stems from snow algae which usually can be seen where penguins and their guano are. The inset photos show red and green snow algae.

Blick von Danco Island zur Arctowski Halbinsel. Bei Temperaturen über Null schossen Schmelzwasserbäche den Hang hinunter. Die grüne Farbe kommt von Schneealgen, die überall dort gedeihen, wo Pinguine und deren Guano sind. In den PiPs sind rote und grüne Schneealgen zu sehen.

Iceberg Alley

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 05:26:13 +0000

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Errera Channel seen from Danco Island. Danco is a 2km long rocky Island in the southern part of the Channel between Graham Land (left) and Rongé Island (right). Anvers Island can be seen in the background. The note shows the coast of Graham Land.

Blick in den Errera-Kanal von Danco Island. Danco ist eine 2 km lange felsige Insel im südlichen Teil des Errera-Kanals zwischen Graham Land (links) und Rongé Island (rechts). Im HIntergrund ist Anvers Island. Das PiP zeigt die Küste von Graham Land.

On Top

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 11:34:03 +0000

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Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) nesting on top of Danco Island. Our expedition ship MS Polar Star can be seen down in Errera Channel.
Pygoscelis species build their nest from stones to keep them dry and often go long ways to feed. Even for us humans it was a stiff uphill climb, more so for the penguins hopping and walking through snow and meltwater.

Errera Channel

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 18:56:54 +0000

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Big icebergs in Errera Channel. One of the high peaks of Anvers Island (Mount Francais?, 2761m) can be seen in the in the background.

Andvord Bay

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 09:53:27 +0000

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Anvers Island and Mount Francais seen from Andvord Bay. The many small iceflows stem from the calving glaciers surrounding Neko Harbour

Siesta

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 09:07:10 +0000

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Gentoo chick sleeping on the rocks at Neko Harbour.
The chicks have to chase after their parent to get food, a ruse to develop their muscles. After a while they need a rest;-)

Found a hilarious video of a food chase: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ-3te2AagM

Neko Harbour

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 16:03:06 +0000

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Neko Harbour is an inlet of Andvord Bay on the western coast of Graham Land. It was the only point where we set foot on Antarctic mainland, all the other landing places were on islands.
Our expedition ship MS Polar Star can be seen anchored in the bay.

Broken

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Sun, 27 Mar 2016 20:14:40 +0000

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The Sunday Challenge (TSC)- Eggs:

Skuas love penguin eggs and steal them wherever they can (see inset photo).

From the archives- vignette and slight zoom effect added in Picasa.

Antarctic heatwave

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Fri, 03 Jul 2015 15:10:59 +0000

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Gentoo at Neko Harbour on an Antarctic summer's day with temperatures of +6°C. We often saw them lying like that when resting and they also like sliding downhill on their bellies;-)

Neko Harbour

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 05:32:06 +0000

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Neko Harbour is an inlet of Andvord Bay on the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula. It was first discovered by Adrien de Gerlache and named after the whaling boat "Neko".

Skua enjoying the view

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 07:25:40 +0000

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On top of the hill at Neko Harbour not only the skua enjoyed the perfect Antarctic summer's day (see note)

Neumayer Channel

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 04:38:27 +0000

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Neumayer Channel is a 26km long and 2,4km wide passage in Palmer archipelago, separating Anvers Island from Wiencke and Doumer Islands.