Panting Penguins on Pléneau Island
Day 10 – 16 January, written by Katerina
We woke up to beaming rays of the Antarctic sun radiating off of countless shades of icy blue. A polar summer day so beautiful as if the freezing continent itself decided to set back its freezing winds and heavy snowflakes and take a deep breath. A frozen paradise letting its visitors fathom a snippet of the stunning scenery. Our ship the M/S Roald Amundsen cruising amongst the striped icebergs stopped at Pléneau Island. Just 1.5km long, Pléneau Island lies in the Wilhelm Archipelago, and was first charted by Charcot‘s French Antarctic Expedition from 1903 to 1905. It was named after Paul Pléneau, the expedition photographer.
Our team got onto the zodiacs and swiftly landed on the shore leaving our temporary home for some solid ground. The air smelled of snow, ice and sea and everyone had excitement written on their face. It was time to pay a visit to a colony of Gentoo penguins, the first of our trip. We could hear the funny-looking birds dressed in tailcoats sooner than we could see them. Snow and sea algae in the air were suddenly accompanied by the unique smell of these little suited creates, which many of us perhaps remembered from visits to the Zoological gardens back home, although the intensity of smell and sound were undoubtedly unrivalled. We clambered through the snow, taking care to deviate around mats of moss fed by trickling snowmelt run off, rare green patches down here. We were soon rewarded when we caught sight of little white-grey chicks hiding beneath their careworn parents. Unlike the chubby Adelie chicks that we got to see before, these confused little Gentoos were only just experiencing this icy world for the first time as they could not be older than a few days. Some of their siblings and cousins were still waiting for their chance to emerge from the many white eggs meticulously incubated by the plumy bellies of their parents. Unlike us, the overheating penguins could not take off their black winter coats while basking in the intense sun. Instead they were panting with their little beaks open on that hot Aantarctic afternoon. No wonder we could see some of them scooping up the snow and eating it. Penguins like ice cream too!
To make this amazing day complete, a group of humpback whales decided to join us during dinner with their krill buffet laid out right next to our vessel. At times we had eight or nine pairs of whales working together and lunging near the surface. Their loud breathing filled the silent bay and we made another precious memory from this unforgettable field trip.
