Petermann Island / Dallmann Bay
It is one thing to read the accounts and adventures of those whose writings lure us to this great white continent – but it is a dream realized when we can finally share the same Antarctic soil as the likes of Sir Ernest Shackleton and Jean-Baptiste Charcot. This aforementioned captain/explorer entered Antarctic waters with his French crew in 1909 aboard the Pourquoi Pas. While their mission was one of research and exploration they were not above the finer things in life. In juxtaposition to the comparatively bland/dark experience of other winter layovers Charcot and his men went so far as to bring along a generator, festive lighting and enough wine for 6 months of darkness while anchored in the exact spot we visited today.
Tucked into Circumcision Bay on Peterman Island we made our landing within meters of the Pourquoi Pas’s 1909 anchorage and could even make out a “PP” etched in the granite of the cove – a small reminder of their legacy. This, a cairn left to commemorate the French mission and a small Argentine shelter are the only signs of human occupation on Petermann despite the fact that it also serves as a popular penguin study area for a research group called Oceanites. Since 1997 this island has hosted not only hundreds of Adelie and Gentoo penguins but the researchers who spend their summers living in tents near the colonies. Combining the data Oceanites researchers have been gathering for the past 12 years with the penguin counts made today, our current Oceanites representatives, Paula and Aileen, were able to include everyone board the National Geographic Explorer in the most up-to-date analysis of Petermann Island Gentoo/Adelie population dynamics available – confirming 3,019 Gentoo nests and 269 Adelie nests compared to 1,224 Gentoo and 862 Adelie nests in the 1997/98 season.
In addition to the island’s nesting penguins and Antarctic Shags, the waters surrounding Petermann Island were teeming with life as well. During an incredibly lucky encounter a few of us were able to witness one of Antarctica’s top predators from about as close as anyone would comfortably want to come. Hydrurga Leptonyx, the Leopard seal is a member of the true seal family and can weigh in at 900 pounds and average 11 feet in length. Separated by only a few inches of inflated rubber and pressurized air a few of us literally came face to face with a most curious/brazen member of this species and had the heart thumping privilege of watching it swim alongside, under and around our zodiac for a period of what seemed minutes (see photo). Thrown into relief by the greenish hue of a nearby iceberg, all aboard could clearly see the silhouette/size of this beautiful creature and could do nothing but talk about it for the remainder of the day!
As a true ice lover there is only one thing that can sway my attention from the experience just described. Ice, of course. From our morning anchorage at Petermann we set a course for our final destination before our inevitable return across the Drake Passage. Our sights were set on Dallmann Bay, one of the gateways to the open water of the southern ocean, with hopes of soaking up some more scenery and catching a few more good looks at marine mammals. We were not denied either! With a course that took us north through the scenic Lemaire Channel for a second time, to another encounter with Killer whales and on into Dallmann Bay where Humpback whales were waiting for us in the calm glorious weather there could not be a more suiting farewell to this amazing continent. Not unless it was topped off with massive icebergs and steep glaciated cliffs bathed in the mottled late afternoon light. Oh yes, the ice abides. As always, the ice abides!!
