Half Moon Island

Saturday, November 13th 2010                                                                            62º36’S 59º55'W


This day in history:- 1912, the bodies of Robert Falcon Scott, Wilson and Bowers were
found by a search party.

After the morning wake up call we looked out of our portholes to a similar scene of snow and overcast clouds. It was time to put on our warm clothing and head off to Half Moon island for our morning excursion. No sooner had we arrived and started on our walk to visit the Chinstrap penguins, than the sun broke through and we looked around to a scene of beauty. The snow covered peaks of Livingstone island that broke through the clouds and towered over us were exhilarating. We soon realized that we were wearing way too much clothing and the sweat started to pour. As we made our way to the rookeries we were all undoing and removing the extra clothes we had worn. 

Frank had found a Macaroni penguin nesting in among the chinstraps and we all made our way over to see our fourth species of penguin on our trip. It was such a nice morning, as the skies gave way and the mountains showed up in all directions. The kayakers were circumnavigating the island and taking in all the scenery and silence as they glided along the water. A call came from Dave that an Elephant seal had hauled itself up on shore beside a Weddell seal, so we were treated again to the sight and sound of this wonderful huge animal. It was hard to leave Half Moon Island, everyone felt like lying down on the snow and just soaking up the sun all day. A quick ride back and we were on our way to our afternoon landing, Penguin Island.

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