#Tag · bonfire.cafe

Day 6 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: a close approach to Half Moon Island in McFarlane Strait, South Shetland Islands, but strong winds precluded a landing. Subsequently we approached close to Edinburgh Hill on Livingston Island, a volcanic plug exhibiting spectacular columnar jointing.
#BusmansHoliday

4 media

Part of the low-lying, ice-free Half Moon Island stretches across the middle of the photo with ice-coverered mountains on Livingston Island rising behind it.

Part of Half Moon Island stretches across the middle of the photo with ice-covered mountains on Livingston Island behind it on the left side. Buildings on the flat surface of Half Moon Island on the right are part of the Argentinian Camara station.

View of the Argentinian Camara station (orange buildings) on Half Moon Island.

View of Edinburgh Hill, a Quaternary volcanic plug on a Livingston Island headland exhibiting spectacular columnar jointing.

Rob Larter

@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · 3 days ago

Wildlife encountered during our landing at Whalers' Bay, Deception Island.

4 media

A leopard seal snoozing on the black sand and gravel beach in Whalers' Bay.

A fur seal standing tall to make clear to visitors who this beach at Whalers' Bay belongs to.

A pair of chinstrap penguins on the shore of the black sand and gravel beach in Whalers' Bay.

A fur seal resting in front of one of the rotting wooden whaling boats on the beach in Whalers' Bay

Rob Larter

@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org replied · yesterday

4 media

Rob Larter

@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · 3 days ago

Day 5 (continued) of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: first close encounters with some of the local inhabitants at Telefon Bay, Deception Island, South Shetland Islands.
#BusmansHoliday

4 media

A pair of chinstrap penguins on the black sand and gravel beach at Telefon Bay, Deception Island.

A skua on the black sand and gravel beach at Telefon Bay, Deception Island.

Rob Larter

@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org replied · 3 days ago

Day 5 (continued) of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: second landing, at Whalers' Bay, Deception Island, South Shetland Islands. From the landing site we walked up a valley to a depression in the caldera rim from which Nathaniel B Palmer first sighted the mainland of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1820.
#BusmansHoliday

4 media

A glacial meltwater stream flowing down to Whalers' Bay in Port Foster, Deception Island. Bark Europa can be seen in Whalers' Bay. The dark, partly snow covered ridge beyond it is the far side of Port Foster, the flooded caldera. Apart from along the Antarctic Peninsula, meltwater streams are rare in Antarctica. Most of the ice sheet surface is too cold, even in summer, for substantial surface melting to occur. Despite this, parts of the ice sheet are now losing significant amounts of ice as a result of changes in ocean circulation that have brought increased amounts of relatively warm water into contact with the ice where it flows into the ocean on a bed that is far below sea level.

Two members of the voyage crew point towards the mainland of the Antarctic Peninsula at the vantage point on the Deception Island caldera rim from which Nathaniel B Palmer first sighted it in 1820. There must have been much better visibility on that day, as we could barely see anything more than a couple of kilometres away.

View of Neptune's Bellows, the narrow entrance to the Port Foster flooded caldera, from the "window" on the caldera rim from which Nathaniel B Palmer first sighted the mainland of the Antarctic Peninsula. A sea stack in the upper central part of the photo guards the eastern side of the entrance.

Members of the voyage crew descending along the valley down to Whalers' Bay. Bark Europa can just be seen in the mist in Whalers' Bay.

Rob Larter

@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · 3 days ago

Day 5 (continued) of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: first landing, at Telefon Bay, Deception Island, South Shetland Islands. From the landing site we walked to the summit of Cross Hill and around the phreatic eruption crater it stands on one side of.
#BusmansHoliday