Our first day on the Mare Australis brought us to Ainsworth Bay and Tucker Island, blips in the maze of Southern Patagonia, where wildlife thrives in the freezing wind and water.
At Ainsworth Bay, a couple young male elephant seals were resting and we were lucky enough to snap a few photos. They would be the only ones we saw up close on the trip (there are large colonies on the Atlantic coast, which we didn't visit.) The naturalist guides led us on a short walk to explain the unique flora - many small shrubs, mosses and deciduous beech forests.
The afternoon excursion was by Zodiac boat to Tucker Island, home to a colony of Magellenic penguins and numerous rock cormorants and king cormorants. I was glad that the passengers were not permitted to exit the boats, and we were limited to snapping photos from the shore. The penguins were not shy at all, and didn't seem bothered by our presence.
Looking at the peaceful, goofy birds, it was hard to imagine that 200 years ago, crews from ships passing though would club thousands of them to stockpile as meat on board. 
No comments:
Post a Comment