Antarctica
plus Falklands & South Georgia
with Victor Emanuel Nature Tours

The trip began in Ushuaia, Argentina, near the southern tip of South America and known as the southernmost city in the world. Birds seen here included Crested Duck (top center), Dolphin Gull (top right), and below, left to right: Chimango Caracara, Austral Thrush, Patagonian Sierra-Finch, and Upland Goose.




We boarded our ship, the Seaventure, to a warm welcome, quickly identifying the back deck as the ideal seawatching site, complete with overhead heaters! Black-browed Albatross was one of our first seabirds.
Two nights and one day at sea brought us to the NW edge of the Falkland Islands and West Point Island, where a walk across open meadows took us to a mixed colony of nesting Black-browed Albatrosses and Rockhopper Penguins.



A few birding highlights from the Falklands, clockwise from far left: Magellanic Penguins, Kelp Goose, Gentoo Penguin, Long-tailed Meadowlark, Megallanic Oystercatcher.






Commerson's Dolphin
Northern Giant-Petrel
Great Shearwater
Orcas
Lots of birding at sea off the back deck. L to R: South Georgia Shag, Snowy Albatross, Slender-billed Prion with Antarctic Prion, plus the birds above.



When we arose on Jan. 5 we were at South Georgia Island, and we were immediately overwhelmed by King Penguins.





Above: Two South Georgia landscapes surround small groups of Gentoo Penguins (left) and Macaroni Penguins (right).
Antarctic Fur Seals were almost extirpated from the island due to overhunting in the first half of the 20th Century, but they're back in big numbers. Adult at left, two young below, including one of the scarce white form. At right, King Penguin portrait.


The old Norweigian whaling station at Grytviken is now preserved as a museum. The Shackleton story is prominent here; we gave a toast to the famous explorer at his grave. A few days later we cruised by the Shackleton party's meager refuge on Elephant Island (far right), and at Grytviken we saw a replica of the lifeboat that Shackleton and 5 others took over 800 miles of rough seas to South Georgia, leading to the rescue of the entire party (below).






Our first attempt to go ashore at Saint Andrew's Bay was thwarted by high winds and rough seas, but a day later we succeeded. The day was perfect and the scene was nearly beyond belief. Approximately 170,000 pairs of King Penguins nest here - all the specks in the upper image are King Penguins. There were plenty of the fuzzy brown immatures, affectionately known as "Oakum Boys." The day was glorious and overwhelming!

Along with all of the penguins, there were loafing Elephant Seals (far left), courting Brown Skuas (left), and nearby, soarting Light-mantled Albatross (above).




We next cruised the Scotia Sea en route to Antarctica. To avoid storms we sailed further east than planned, which brought us alongside the gigantic Iceberg A23a, roughly 30 x 40 miles, about 200 feet high. For scale, the tiny black dot on the ice flow in the photo above is an adult fur seal. It took more than 3 hours to pass.

We saw many seabirds here. L to R, Blue Petrel, Antarctic Prion, Snow Petrel, Pintado Petrels.






We enjoyed nearly endless spectacular scenery in Antarctica, along with wonderful views of penguins. L to R, Gentoo Penguin with chicks, Chinstrap Penguin with chicks, and perhaps the biggest surprise of the trip, a perfect view of Emperor Penguin, unexpected at the sites we visited.

Some of the mammals we saw, L to R: Humpback Whales, Crabeater Seal, Weddell Seal.

We experienced Antarctic extremes, from brilliant sun to blinding snow, but every day of this trip gave us great wildlife and amazing scenery. The comradery was also wonderful, beginning with my two amazing coleaders, Louise Zemaitis and Michael O'Brien, shown with me at right on Portal Point, Antarctic Peninsula.
