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Photo Galleries Home Gallery: 6-Landings in Antarctica (164) Event Code: 12162011
(December 15th, 2011) L’AUSTRAL Daily Journal - Portal Point & Wilhelmina Bay & Cuverville Island. By Juan José Apestegui This morning cold, damp and windy, we were at Portal Point, named by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, or FIDS, which was the forerunner of the present day British Antarctic Survey. There used to be a famous survival hut here, known as the Reclus Hut, which is know in the Stanley Museum, the place itself was named so because it was considered the “portal” to a route into the Antarctic Plateau itself. It is situated on the north-east part of the Reclus Peninsula which, in turn, was named by Adrien de Gerlache during his Belgica Expedition, 1897-1899, after Elisée Reclus a notable French author and geographer. In the distance, a “gang” of Skuas had alighted on the snow covered slope of a glacier. They are called a “gang” when it is a group of young single birds, this is to say not paired couples, and they get together to do all sorts of mischief among other birds, especially penguins. There were also some Blue-eyed Shags flying around, a pretty sure sign of the presence of a colony nearby. Our Expedition Leader, Nico, had gone scouting Portal Point to see the possibilities of a landing, but the news came back that the snow was too deep, and therefore it was decided instead to do a zodiac cruise along the face of the glaciers and the ice. The zodiacs were lowered and we headed out to cruise around the massive icebergs that were floating around. Each was unique in shape and appeared completely different depending on the angle and lighting. Louis found a big Weddell Seal lounged on the snow ashore, near Portal Point, and it was seen by many. Because of the cold morning temperatures and windy conditions, soup was arguably the most popular item on the lunch menu. As we delivered hot spoonfuls to our chilled bodies L’Austral slowly started making its way towards Wilhelmina Bay, our afternoon destination. Along the way, some Minke Whales were found, and in the middle of the afternoon another surprise: Foyn Harbour was full of ice, although navigable, so the Captain and Expedition Leader decided to give all a chance for a unique experience: Nico, a veteran of many crossings of Arctic ice caps and trips to the North Pole, scouted the area for a suitable piece of sea ice and the zodiacs proceeded to shuttle groups of our passengers to the sea ice were they could stand for a few minutes and feel what it is like to come close to the experience of those early explorers like Amundsen whom, by the way, conquered the South Pole a hundred years ago on November 14th, 1911. In the evening, the Hotel Department arranged for an early-extended dinner, so that we could make a third landing, at Cuverville Island. Discovered by de Gerlache in 1897 and named for Cavelier de Cuverville, a vice admiral in the French navy, this island was also used by the whalers in the 19th century. Cuverville has several large Gentoo rookeries, which compromise one of the largest gatherings of this species in Antarctica. The penguins climb steep snow slopes and rocks to occupy these high rookeries. They choose to nest in these high and windy locations as these areas are the first to be snow free in the spring.
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