Torgensen Island
Don't let the blue sky fool you. Last Friday the weather closed in and we haven't been out in a boat since. that is not to say that is isn't extremely beautiful without the sun, but it was too windy and icy to take the Zodiaces out. In the next post I'll show some of the bad weather. Art and I grabbed a Zodiac and headed out to Torgensen Island, about a kilometer form the Station. It has 4000 breeding pairs of adelie penquins with quite a few nests of skuas on patrol.
These guys watched us arrive. Our rules are that we are not allowed to cause the animals to alter their behavior in our presence. But we are allowed on half of Torgensen Island. It's very hard not to interact with the penguins and stay out of their way. They are somewhat curious, too; completely unafraid of humans.
The retreating glacier leaves the place a mess, with broken rocks and rubble everywhere. Its quite sculptural, though.
Not many plants here. You can see just about all the species in the first picture. But we have some outrageous lichens.
Lot's of telephoto work here.
Elephant seals hanging out by Elephant Rocks.
Palmer Station: glistening blue jewel.
posted by David Ruth at 10:00 AM
21 Comments:
I had the same problem with the toolbar for a few days, but it's back, did you use a different program to load these, they open in sections instead of the instant blog ones, but are worth the wait! I am loving sharing your trip.
David, your blog is amazing. These photos are sublime - such beauty you are showcasing.
I am struck by the colors in Antarctica, especially those orange lichens you photographed. Completely unexpected. The penguins are just too funny. The producers of the movie, "Happy Feet" characterized those little fellows dead on.
I just love the photo of the penguin with one of you standing in the background! it's too bad you only have a couple of weeks left. I didn't realize people could visit Antarctica, but I can certainly see why they do!
What an amazing place for photography.
I am in awe and totally envious.
That Penguin is saying, "Check me out! The right side is the best!" LOL
Stunning as always!
;)
Muy lindas imagenes, por lo que puedo ver hab sido tomadas en la Antartida, En Chile se pueden captar imagenes similares, dado lo hermoso de nuestros parajes.
Saludos y buena suete.
Chao. . .
;)
Your blog is so incredible. I just love the photos. The clarity of them is the icing on the cake. I am awe struck. I have emailed my friends your URL.
By the way, to solve the toolbar problem I pressed control F5 (I think its F5). This refreshes the page. You do it while you in compose post or edit mode. I had to do it twice, but it fixed it for me.
these are some brilliant pictures that you have up here, but why are the pictures in this ast pot in a smaller resolution than the previous ones? it sure is worth to see them in bigger resolution, i am on my way to iceland in a couple of days, i hope to get some great photography too, might catch a few aurora borealis. keep sending in photos! they are very very good, i love ice and snow :D
!! Awesome !!
Glad you can share a part of the world I will likely never see. On balance, I think sharing your experience is good enough. Thanks.
Love the pictures, try getting some birds dancing.
Very funny penguins :o)
The glacially (sp?) sculpted rocks are gorgeous. Your sculptures will also be amazing. I love visiting your site, esp since I just moved to California from the East Coast. I miss the snow. Of course, I never had penguins or iceburgs there, but your pictures are a gorgeous dose of reletively cold weather.
Thanks for bringing this part of the world to us. I can't wait to share this with my grandchildren and children. Please keep posting!
These pictures are beautiful. I never knew that there was ever any green in Antarctica.
This is extremely gorgeous. Were you on holiday or some sort of expedition? I hope I can go to Antartica too.
keep up the great work guys
Fantastic pictures!!
Does Palmer Station need any volunteers? Where do I sign up??
Wow such beautiful pictures! Those rock structures are so dramatic they are amazing! And those penguins are the most darling things :) Such a gorgeous place!
I love your blog. It is so inspiring. Someday, I want to create a bead-painting of some penguins in an icy terrain like that. Thank you for sharing all the beauty you see each day:)
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