South Shetland Islands / Südshetland-Inseln

Now, we set out from South Georgia towards the Antarctic Peninsula, with our first stops at the offshore South Shetland Islands. To reach them, we had to travel approximately 700 nautical miles (1300km), which took us about 2.5 days. Along the way, we encountered (the captain must have had some assistance) the currently largest iceberg in the world, A23a. It is roughly the size of Mallorca, but naturally, that can’t be visually captured. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant encounter. Besides that, we saw a few smaller icebergs and a lot of water.

Our first activity on the South Shetland Islands was a Zodiac tour at 'Point Wilde', a bay on Elephant Island. There’s a historical narrative associated with this point involving an expedition by Ernest Shackleton, but we’re far more interested in the penguins. On both sides of the bay, there are colonies of Chinstrap penguins, and in between, a lovely glacier that calves significantly during our Zodiac trip (of course, our recording devices missed the spectacle, but at least we got to see a bit of it).

Continuing towards Barrientos Island, we came across a large swarm of feeding Humpback and Fin whales that approached the boat to within single-digit meters – a fantastic display.

At Barrientos Island, we have a landing where we can stroll among breeding groups of Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. Some penguins are nesting, while others already have one or two chicks. There’s a constant flow of movement as they go in and out, collect stones, and disturb their neighbors … maintaining a 5m distance isn’t always feasible, but luckily we didn’t step on any penguins …

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From South Georgia we head now to the Antarctic Peninsula, where we have our first stops at the South Shetland Islands. To reach these, we have to make 700 nautical miles (about 1300km), which takes us 2.5 days. There was not much to see on these 2.5 days, but we passed A23a (the currently largest iceberg of the world, about the size of Mallorca) and some smaller icebergs. Besides this, there was just lots of water …

Our first activity on the South Shetland Islands was a zodiac cruise at 'Point Wilde', a bay on Elephant Island. There is a historical story associated with this point that played a role in one of Ernest Shackleton's voyages, but we are more interested in the Chinstrap penguins here. There are colonies on both sides of the bay, and a nice glacier in the middle, which calves a significant piece while we are on the water, but - of course - our cameras did not capture this.

Later, when we continued towards Barrientos Island, we encountered a large group of feeding whales, with 20 or more Humpback and Fin whales, coming closer to our boat than 10m. What a wonderful display ...

At Barrientos Island, we have a landing activity where we can walk among Chinstrap and Gentoo penguin breeding groups. Some penguins are nesting, others already have one or two chicks. There’s a lot of movement in the colonies, with penguins going in and out of the water, collecting stones, and disturbing their neighbors … it is not always possible to maintain a distance of 5m. Well, at least we manage not to step on a penguin ...