28 Feb 2014

Balleny Islands Cruise in Perfect Weather

Well it has been an amazing couple of days ... you couldn’t have written a script for the experiences we have had and are still having. I am writing this on Friday at midday in the hope that it gets uploaded before the weekend.
We had a good trip from Cape Adare region to the Balleny Islands, we arrived at Sturge Island (the southernmost in the group) Thursday morning and have slowly worked our way north.. along the west coasts of Buckle and Young Island. The cloud and the fog lifted yesterday giving us some incredible views of these seldom visited Islands. Numerous humpback whales were seen, there was also a Dwarf Minke whale spotted. At the southern end of Buckle Island there is a small Island called Sabrina Island, it is home to one of the only colonies of Penguins here in the Ballenys. We Zodiac cruised here last night in almost perfect weather. The penguins are predominantly Adelie Penguins, however this is also the only place in the New Zealand biogeographical region where Chinstraps breed. We counted good numbers of these, plus one lonely King Penguin (a long way from home). There was also a pod of Orca cruising by and we witnessed a leopard seal feasting on Penguins.Push Ice on one of the only beaches prevented a landing on Buckle Island and this morning a similar situation plus a big swell prevented a landing, despite that we are enjoying magnificent views. Next stop is Campbell Island, which we will depart for this afternoon.