12/15 Cuverville Island

We’re back outside!  Actually, we’re out a little earlier than our planned 9:00 time.  Around 8:00ish, we had finished dinner and decided to get geared up and just wait in the lounge until they called us.  As we were dressing, Jerome called our red group! Cool – off we go to see 10,000 gentoo penguins.  Yes, 10,000.  You read that right. 

The zodiac sail into the island is incredible – these huge icebergs that are all glowing blue (will explain the blue light in more detail later when the “ice” specialist gives his glacier lecture later) and since it’s overcast and slightly snowing, it’s almost like twilight which totally changes the light and makes these huge chunks of ice even more dramatic. Plus there are penguins swimming in the water all around us.  Now, that was pretty neat! They look like tiny dolphins, arcing out of the water every few seconds or so!

Landing is easy – wet – but easy – then we’re off to follow the penguins!  We have our own human trail – and they have their penguin trail – but they tend to do what they want and are on our path quite a bit.  These guys are just so darn cute – albeit smelly and muddy from their nests – but still so cute. They are inquisitive, always looking at you and cocking their little heads. They waddle all over – up the hills – down the hills – they have trails all over that island. It’s really amazing – they can make it up and down these steep hills with no problem whatsoever, but when they try to walk on flat land they fall all the time.  Too funny!

Every time we walk past a large rookery – they all start to make sounds and call out.  We’ve decided they either don’t like me – or like me and want me to stay!  I’ll take the second explanation, thank you!  As we are wandering down the path, snapping away, listening to the penguin calls, we also hear an avalanche.  Man – it’s loud – don’t know from which direction it is coming, but it sounds like a helicopter landing.  We search the cliffs and mountains that line the mainland behind the island, but don’t see any evidence of it.  That would have been wild! To see an avalanche – well – as long as it was far away that is!

For an hour, we just wander around the paths, Ed even takes a penguin for a walk!  We watch the penguins protect their nests and eggs from the ever present Skuas, there is even one skua perched in front of two penguins standing with an egg between them. It’s odd they are standing and not sitting on the egg –but still – it’s there, you can see it so clearly.