Port Lockroy, LeMaire Channel & Booth Island
We awoke to another gorgeous morning with clear blue skies, mountaintops glittering in sunshine and perfect conditions for landing at Port Lockroy on Wienke Island and at Jougla Point. Port Lockroy was originally used as an anchorage for whale factory ships in the 1920s, which then became a site for a British base built on Goudier Island in 1944. This was part of Operation Tabarin, a secret project in World War II meant to deny anchorage to German commerce raiders and thwart the Argentines claims to sovereignty of the area. It closed in 1962 and subsequently suffered from looting and decay until the recent restoration work by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.
It is now the most widely visited site in the Antarctic and is manned each summer by people who operate the small museum, post office and gift shop. We met the station personnel and had a chance to send postcards home while wandering around the old British base. It was interesting to see what life must have been like at an Antarctic base in the 1950’s and 60’s. It was also a great chance to see Gentoo penguins feeding their fluffy chicks.
With a fantastic lunch, where there was a chance to dine under brilliant blue skies out on the sun deck, we sailed towards the Lemaire Channel. First we were lucky to see a large pod of killer whales. These were “Type B” killer whales, which are common around the Antarctic Peninsula and are typically seen feeding on penguins and seals. We had excellent looks at one of the top two predators of this area before sailing towards the Lemaire Channel. This area is nicknamed Kodiak gap because of its sheer beauty of immense rocky cliffs surrounding a very narrow channel. We had numerous sightings of Minke and humpback whales as they also cruised this tight area.
In the afternoon we had a chance to kayak around and go ashore at Booth Island. This island is an important historical landing site for the Charcot expeditions. First thing we saw was a Macaroni penguin. This species has long yellow plume-like feathers at the top of its head and is not seen very often in the Antarctic Peninsula. It is one of the most numerous penguins but mostly seen in the sub-Antarctic islands like South Georgia. It was a great photo opportunity to see one of these penguins so far down south.
Our fantastic day ended with us gathering in the lounge after dinner to hear stories from of our truly adventurous and long serving staff member, Tom Ritchie. He told us about the “good ole days” of expedition cruising and kept us laughing throughout the evening. Who knows what adventures tomorrow will bring?
