Since I spent most of December in Antarctica for work, everyone has been asking to see more photos! I’ve collected 17 of my favorite photos to show you some of the landscapes and wildlife on the white continent. Antarctica was another world—I highly recommend going. To help with planning, I’ve made a second post about what to pack for Antarctica and when to go! Enjoy the photos!
The Danger Islands have the biggest Adélie penguin colony on the Antarctic peninsula. There are 750,000 pairs of Adélie’s across the five islands. This image of two Adélie’s on an iceberg was shot at Heronia Island from a Zodiac boat. I literally couldn’t have posed this photo any better!
After almost two weeks of snowy or overcast days, we had lovely clear day with a beautiful sunset along the Gerlache Strait in mid-December. I stayed up late taking photos of icebergs. This shot was taken at 11:30 p.m.!
Gentoo penguins start nesting in November and eggs start hatching in mid to late December. We were lucky to catch these baby chicks at Brown Bluff. These were the only chicks we saw the entire month of December. The mother is regeritating her food to feed the babies in the second image.
Brown Bluff was covered in penguins. There were 18,630 pairs of Adélies and 800 pairs of Gentoo. All the little black and white spots are penguins covering the entire island.
This large Gentoo colony at Cuverville Island was stunning with the glacier in the background. Yes, all the brown you see is rocks and mostly poop. (Their poop melts the snow.) They’ve made little tracks down to the water for feeding.
Speaking of poop, these two are covered in it and mud! The Gentoo on the left is sitting on an egg and preening her trail. Gentoos have the most prominent tail of the brush-tail penguins. The one on the right is carrying a rock to help build a nest. Rock theivery is also common among penguins.
Snow covered Gentoon penguins at Damoy Point near the entrance of the harbor to Port Lockroy. The first few days of our trip in December were very snowy. We probably had five feet of snow on the first 10-day trip, which is a bit usual.
Left: Gentoo penguins walking down to the sea at Cuverville Island. Right: An Adélie penguin in the snow at Red Rock Bay. Adélie’s have solid black faces with white around their eyes while Gentoos have white on their heads and orange beaks.
Dramatic ice sickles on an iceburg near Pleneau island. The island is famous for a nearby iceburg graveyard.
One of the coolest things to see and hardest to photograph are penguins when they are swimming. They are like little torpedos. I photographed these Gentoos at Pleneau Island.
This photo of a Gentoo penguin colony at Cuverville Island shows just how dramatic the scenery was in Antarctica.
As we left Neko Harbor, the Gentoo penguins rushed to the water using the nice path we’d shoveled and carved out of the snow.
A Crabeater Seal lounging on an ice in the iceburg graveyard near Pleneau Island.
A Weddell Seal at Jenny Cove. These seals were discovered and named by British captain James Weddell in the 1820s.
Antarctica Packing List & More
I wrote a second blog post breaking down what to pack and when to go to Antartica based on what you want to see. Check out the post here!
