Port Lockroy and Dallman Bay

15th January 2009

After leaving the Wilhelmina Bay we traveled south towards Anvers island. We passed through Peltier Channel early this morning. we anchored at Port Lockroy, Again Port Lockroy is a restored Whaling station. The British made it a base in 1944 and then in 1996 the non profit Antarctic Heritage trust took it over. It is now a museum and gift shop. And it seems the Gentoo penguins like the area as well since they were everywhere. I briefly went over to the whaling station and had a lock at the museum and of course bought some souvenirs form their gift shop. But more importantly I got to mail some postcards.

In 1944 during WWII, the British sent a secret mission, code named Operation Tabirin. Port Lockroy was base "A". the Brits set up several bases on the peninsula to warn of incoming enemy activities. The mission was lead by Lt. Commander James Mart, who first visited Antarctica under the leader ship of Sir Ernest Shackleton. After the war the station was used for research.

After I finished at Port Lockroy, I headed to Jougla Point where there was Gentoo and shags nesting along with bones from the whales that were hunted. Knowing this was my last on shore activity and my last chance to stand amongst the penguins, I tried to take it all in. I watched the Gentoos build nests, squabble with one another and protect their chicks from the blowing wind. These Gentoo seemed to have built more robust stone nests than some of the other colonies we encountered. My guess is that there are a lot more available rocks at this site than the others.

This afternoon we headed north. The captain took a scenic route called Dallmann Bay which is known for its whale pods. We got a tremendous show of humpbacks playing and eating krill. The whales dive down and circle the krill to bring it to the surface then they open their mouths and gulp them down as they rise out of the water.

And now we have started our trek north east back to Usuaia.