5 February 2024 - Cuverville Island and Paradise Bay, Antarctic Peninsula.
Latitude: -64.89° Longitude: -62.88°
We experienced Antarctic weather at its most extreme today, causing plans to repeatedly change. Early in the morning, the ship was positioned off Cuverville Island, intending to land Zodiacs and visit the nesting Gentoo Penguins. However, conditions were far from ideal.
Strong, persistent winds of 35-40 knots and gusts over 70 knots. The snow that fell blew horizontally across the sky before meeting a furious-looking sea. The morning landing was cancelled and at one point we were ordered off the open decks because of the wind.
The ship moved on to Paradise Bay and the Argentinian research station Brown Base located in Skontorp Cove. The low-pressure system was moving quickly to the east, and the spot offered a good refuge from prevailing winds.
Upon arrival, the sea was noticeably calmer, almost flat. The intermittent snow made a picturesque setting to explore the waters and shoreline of the cove.
It was interesting to see Brown Base and wave hello to the scientists stationed there. Beside (more like co-mingled with) the base is a colony of Gentoo Penguins. To the side of the base, Antarctic Shags were plentiful, perched within the nooks and crannies of the cliff or swimming with their long-extended necks above the waterline.
In Skontorp Cove we had a good view of the enormous glaciers of the area. We were lucky to see a calving event which deposited large amounts of ice into the bay. The video unfortunately doesn't do justice to the scale. What looks like fluid water in the video is actually tons of ice flowing downhill. Our guide was quick to assure us the ensuing tsunami would only be a problem for our Zodiac if we were in shallow water.
During the sail out we were met again by multiple humpback whales. They were surface feeding and provided great views.
