Port Charcot Iceberg Graveyard

Ocean Tramp – Sarah

The day started with a 5am wake-up call in Port Charcot for those of us who wanted to participate in a hike. It’s funny how 5 am doesn’t really feel that bad when it has been light for a few hours! Despite the early hour the
penguins had already started their morning commute down to the water. The hike for me was more a scramble up rock. I have been amazed by the muck boots which at first felt so clumsy and now have become reliable hiking boots to get up any terrain. We were rewarded with views over the Iceberg Graveyard. We spent just enough time at the top to enjoy the views but headed down to breakfast before the chill started settling in. We were back at the boat by 7:15 am, the day had only just begun!

After a hearty breakfast, we headed to Torgersen Island, next to Palmer station. Our mission for this stop was to hand over the whale tag that we had picked up several days earlier (you probably read about this adventure on a previous blog). In exchange for the tag we were given a lovely bottle of wine which we all enjoyed later that night with dinner. On this landing, we had the opportunity to sit quietly and observe the Adelie penguins and fur seals. It was my first time seeing the penguins collecting rocks for their nests. We watched one Adelie for about twenty minutes while he picked up one stone at a time and took it back to his nest. Each time he turned his back to collect another stone a neighboring Adelie stole a stone from him! It was hard not to feel sorry for him but I guess this is what penguins do.
We were also treated to an amazing viewing via the rib of 5-6 elephant seals, wow are they impressive creatures!

We continued on to Port Lockroy where we anchored for the night and visited Jougla Point where we saw a huge whale skeleton and lots of gentoo penguins of all ages and stages, feeding chicks to adults moulting! It is from here
that we will visit the Penguin post office (the most southerly post office in the world) this morning.

BLOG: Sarah Polk
Photo: David Divitt

PS. thanks for the comments, they are sent via email to the boat. Look
forward to hearing more!