MS National Geographic Explorer
Neko Harbor and Port Lockroy
Friday, January 15, 2010

    This morning, we were still slowly cruising Paradise Bay. The satellite images indicated that there was a lessening of the wind out in the channels and straits, so we set destination to Neko Harbor, a short journey back north from our current location. Neko Harbor was another landing that I made on the expedition last year.

    Neko Harbor is surrounded by steep glacier-covered mountains. The glaciers reach down to the sea and frequently calve with a loud cannon-shot sound and generate huge waves on shore. Neko is home to a colony of breeding gentoo penguins. Many of the nests are built on the slopes of the mountains and the adult penguins climb up and down daily to bathe and feed in the sea. This constant traffic of marching feet has created highways trampled in the snow and ice.

    There was a leopard seal patrolling just offshore, today, so the groups of penguins onshore were very alert as they jumped into the sea and so gracefully swam and fed. I was lying prone on the rocky beach while photographing adults entering and leaving the sea when a large glacier calving occurred. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I almost got caught in the resulting mini-tsunami. Fortunately, Bob Smith hollered at me and we both scrambled to get all our equipment and ourselves up to a safe place. The wave reached 20-30 feet up the shore.

    While we were anchored in Neko Harbor, minke and humpack whales were sighted in the surrounding waters. The wind had truly moderated in this area, so it made for a nice morning.

    About lunchtime, we left Neko Harbor on our way to Port Lockroy, a former British outpost and research station from World War II days that is now maintained as a museum. I had visited the station last year, so I elected to spend all my time on Jougla Point, an area just accros the water from Port Lockroy.

    Jougla Point also supports a colony of nesting gentoo penguins and some nesting blue-eyed shags. The shag nesting areas are rather sensitive, so we were not able to get too close to them. The gentoo chicks at Jougla were very much more mature than at the previous landings. Many of these chicks can be left alone by the adults for short periods and will likely be left on their own permanently in another week or two. Jougla’s weather was quite windy and somewhat wet, so it felt really good to get back to the comfort of the ship later in the day.

    We have decided to try to get below the Antarctic Circle again this trip, so we are headed south an will be cruising all night. We passed through the Lemaire Channel but the clouds were so low that we could not enjoy the magnificence of the narrow channel. Many ships are currently avoiding the channel because of all the ice clogging the channel at this time. The N.G. Explorer can handle the ice, so that was fun. In addition, we were also treated to several humpback whales that were feeding in the channel and politely displayed their baleens for us on occasion.

    If all goes well, we will cross the Antarctic Circle about breakfast time tomorrow morning. We will continue cruising through the area called the Gullet where there are a lot of beautiful ice formations, and hopefully end up near Webb Island.