Palaver Point

 

1/16/25 AM PalaverPoint 64°08.575’S 61°46.428’W

Chinstrap penguin colony

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Today's morning excursion was a shore landing at Palaver point, home to a colony of Chinstrap peguins.

Thus far, the ship's crew has advised us, we have had the best weather they have ever seen during an Antarctic season. Today, we got a taste of what a typical Antarctic summer day looks like. Temperature at -1°C, with sustained winds of 30 knots, and gusts up to 40 or 50 knots.

Landing zone

From the landing zone, there was an uphill hike to get to the lower of the concentrations of nests in the colony.

Chinstrap penguins are readily identifyable by the black line extending from below the beak, under the eye, and to the back of the head

Nesting on the exposed top of a hill, backs to the wind

Lots of chicks

Snowy day.

There was a further climb to the top of the colony. This would be the last scheduled shore landing of our journey. Despite the wind and the cold, we decided to make the climb, for our last panoramic view from an elevated vantage point on the continent.

A final look back, and then it was time to go..