Wiencke Island. Snow and ice draped over a sawtooth ridge surrounded by glaciers. The landscape here and in much of the Antarctic Peninsula is a scene under tension. Ice hangs on cliffs, ready to slide, while cornices perch precariously on ridge tops high in the sky. Pinnacles on icebergs are poised before toppling, and ice strains at glacial faces before tumbling to the sea. These impending catastrophes add an incredible visual excitement and stir our deepest emotions. We spent our morning gawking aimlessly in every direction.
Port Lockroy was a favorite anchorage for whaling ships in the early 1900's. The remains of their consumptive industry still litter the rocks. The light tan of bleached bones tells the story of mounds of rotting flesh that once were heaped here. Standing upon these bones are a gentoo penguin and a snowy sheathbill, a scavenger always close at hand awaiting a meal.
Gentoo penguins are the mellowest of brush-tailed penguins. The downy chicks are so friendly and curious that they will walk up to a seated person and bill their buckles and zippers. Today many of the chicks were so hot that they lay on the rocks splayed out with feet outstretched. The adult pictured here is molting its old coat of feathers. It is a non-breeder that is weeks ahead of the successful breeders
