Saturday 7 February 2009

Half Moon Island



The morning started off with briefings and lectures, but around lunch, everybody on board became agitated: Land in sight! After a smooth ride over the Drake Passage we finally reached the South Shetland Islands! On our first landing in Antarctic waters we visited the Chinstrap Penguins at Half Moon Bay. The penguin chicks are already big and constantly hungry, and so the parents were busy shuttling between the sea and the colony to provide their offspring with food. The whole scenery was bathed in the warm light of the late afternoon sun and the crests of Livingstone Island in the background shed long shadows on the glaciers surrounding them. What a marvelous day!

The pictures of the day were taken by Helgard and Oliver Gimm