07 Mar 2017

Chinstrap Penguin Spotting at Balleny Islands

We are only a day’s sailing south of Campbell Island. Campbell Island is our last stop on this expedition. We will have two and a half days there before sailing onto Lyttelton. The trip north from Antarctica has been very pleasant. We spent two days exploring the Balleny Islands which included a Zodiac cruise at Sabrina Island. Sabrina Island is a SPA (Specially Protected Area) because it is the only site in this sector of Antarctica to have Chinstrap Penguins breeding. Chinstrap Penguins are commonly seen in and around the Antarctic Peninsula, but very rarely seen on a Ross Sea Expedition. Although the breeding season was over we did get some good views of these penguins along the coast.

The Balleny Islands are also renowned for whales, and we had good encounters with both Humpbacks and Orca. We timed our departure from Young Island (northern Ballenys) to arrive at the Balleny Seamount at first light, although it was a small diversion, I don't know of any other expedition ships that have visited this seamount. This seamount rises from about 2000 metres to approx. 60 metres below the surface. Seamounts are renowned for being rich in wildlife as there are often upwellings bringing food up from the depths of the ocean.  We counted over 20 Humpback Whales and a couple of Fin Whales in the vicinity of the seamount.

Sea conditions enroute to Campbell Island have largely been very pleasant. Today we have lectures and quarantine checks in preparation for our time at Campbell Island.

Image from file ©SOtt