Day 12 : Stonington Island

Stonington island is a landmark place, site of the British Base-E.

Today was a very busy day, with a first successful landing at Stonington Island in the morning, and the visit of Base-E. Then, after a short navigation, a second zodiac landing at Red Rock Ridge, which is home to a very large Adelie Penguin colony. Lots of stunning pictures and it is amazing to see thousands of Penguins gathered at the same place, called a rockery, to incubate their eggs.

Life in Stonington Island.

We can enter inside the Base-E and get a glimpse of the daily life of the first explorers. It's pitch black so we use our small torch to try to get some good shots. From the interior design taste you can tell the base was mainly active in the 60's (it was established in 1946). Normally occupied by 6 to 17 people, it is the first two-storey building in Antarctica, with the bedrooms cabin located on the upper floor.

Next to Base-E, is the American base "East Base" established in 1939.

There are interesting remains of snowmobiles that were used to bring supplies from the landing site, up to the station. It's mind boggling to think how active Antarctica was after second-world war, marking a great phase of base settlement, exploration and research.

Zodiac landing at Red Rock Ridge

Zodiacs are a great way to reach the land, and they get unloaded from the ship in no time. We land in the middle of thousands of Adelie Penguins. This is the period for incubation and you can spot eggs under their body when they stand up at times. Adelie Penguins size is between 46 and 71 cm, and weight between 3.6 and 6 kg. Their nest is made of very small peebles and they lay only 2 eggs sometimes 3, that will incubate for 35 to 37 days.

As we get ready to leave the place, I found those remains of a campfire likely 60 years ago. That is a nice shot. (see the fork ?). According to IAATO rules for tourism in Antarctica, nothing should be touched, move and removed. It's frozen history.

Storm is coming

We were just informed that a storm is coming and we are now navigating to take refuge behind Adelaide Island. We were told the night and the morning will be rough, with very bad sea conditions. Also, because of icebergs the stabilizers of the ship can't be used, so it may roll quite a bit. The weather doors have been locked so we can not access outside decks anymore, as the winds are too strong. As a consequence, there will be no outside activitivies tomorrow. But the goods news is that we got invited to have dinner with the Commandant for a great evening polar navigation stories.