Cuverville Island

Iceberg textures on way in on the Zodiac
Iceberg textures

After leaving Deception Island we headed south and the following morning had arrived at Cuverville Island which was to be our landing for the morning. Cuverville Island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International  as it has a breeding colony of approximately 6500 pairs of Gentoo Penguins, the largest on the Antarctic Peninsula for this species. The breeding Gentoos were thus one of the main features of the landing but as always there were the attendant Skuas, some dramatic icebergs and some large whale vertebrae on the shore. This landing was more in keeping with preconceptions of Antarctica with a lot more snow which was interestingly coloured red and green in areas due to algal growth in the summer. The penguin guano added to the reddish colouration of the snow and rocks and made their trails up to the nesting sites stand out against the cleaner snow.

Zodiac ride to Cuverville Island. It was great to meet the Parrys and Petersens from Idaho on our trip to Antarcica
Zodiac ride to Cuverville Island. It was great to meet the Parrys and Petersens from Idaho on our trip to Antarcica
Landing beach at Cuverville Island. Part of the Gentoo colony visible in the distance.
Landing beach at Cuverville Island. Part of the Gentoo colony visible in the distance.
Gentoos on the beach. They are unafraid and come right up to you. We have to keep our distance but they have no rules!
Edin photographing Gentoos on the beach. They are unafraid and come right up to you. We have to keep our distance but they have no rules! The Skua behind Edin is the same one that features  later in this post. They have a far greater tolerance for humans than their own species.
Gentoo trails on the way up to part of the breeding colony
Gentoo trails on the way up to part of the breeding colony
Gentoo adding a stone to his nest with mate and chicks in residence
Gentoo adding a stone to his nest with mate and chicks in residence
Gentoo heading across the rocky beach on the way out to fish.
Gentoo heading across the rocky beach on the way out to fish.
Gentoo portrait showing the density of the plumage
Gentoo portrait showing the density of the plumage
Brown Skua territorial defence
Brown Skua territorial defence. Snow discoloured by algae.
Brown Skua territorial display while seeing off a competitor
Brown Skua territorial display after seeing off a competitor.
Whale vertebra
Whale vertebra

Photos with Nikon D810 and 200-400mm f4, except for whale vertebra and beach images which were taken with D3s and 18-35mm f3.5-4.5 and the Zodiac photo taken with Fuji x100s. We had nice flat light and a little snow at times. After returning to the ship we went kayaking and the snow really started to come down which was fun and will be the subject of another post.

This Post Has 5 Comments

  1. Laird Parry

    3 May 2015

    Hi, Tony! We four Idahoans are honored to be mentioned on your blog! We all love your and Edin’s photos and look forward to your weekly postings. It lets us relive our Antarctic adventure all over. It was indeed an incredible trip and we enjoyed your company.

    Come on up (and over) and visit us sometime!

    Laird and Shawna Parry

    1. tony

      3 May 2015

      Glad you’re enjoying reliving the trip with us – going through the images for each post brings back many happy memories for me and Edin too. Would love to visit your part of the world sometime.

  3. Beverley Guy

    17 May 2015

    superb photography, subjects, scenery, close ups, “commentary” Thank You Tony for sharing, enjoyed immensely

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