"Death lies before us, as we sail for the fountain of youth." - Captain Jack Sparrow
The wee hours of the morning were spent approaching King George Island, in the South Shetlands. William Smith first discovered this archipelago on 19 February 1819. Rich in wildlife, by the following season, dozens of American and British sealing vessels were busily exploiting the large fur seal population that bred here. Within two years the seals had been almost entirely eliminated, although populations have now recovered.
Fildes Peninsula, King George Island is one of the areas in Antarctica of greatest paleontological interest, owing to the presence of outcrops with fossil remains of a wide range of organisms, including vertebrate and invertebrate ichnites, and abundant flora with impressions of leaves and fronds, trunks, and pollen grains and spores that date from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene.
There are several research stations here, including Frei (Chile) and Bellingshausen (Russia).
There are several research stations here, including Frei (Chile) and Bellingshausen (Russia).
We were able to visit two of the research stations in Fildes Bay - Frei Station (Chile) and Bellingshausen (Russian). It is a busy time of year for the stations as they are in full summer research mode, but arrangements were made to land and and explore the outdoor portions of their facilities.
The Chilean and Russian Antarctic Stations
The Russians built a Church on the Base Station
We visited Half Moon Island in the afternoon. Half Moon is a small Antarctic island lying 1.35 km (0.84 mi) north of Burgas Peninsula, Livingston Island in the Antarctic Peninsula region. Half Moon Island has a sizable rookery of chinstrap penguins as well as nesting Antarctic terns and kelp gulls. This small island offers stunning views of surrounding mountains. A small Argentine Station (Camara Base) is located on the island.
A Chinstrap Penguin Colony
A Chinstrap Penguin Colony
A Chinstrap Penguin
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