Sights & Scenes of Antarctica

A Gentoo penguin stands next to the remains of a whaling boat at Mikkelson Harbour on Trinity Island in the Palmer archipelago, which lies off the western coast of Graham Land on the Antarctic peninsula.

Gentoo penguins are distinguished by a white band across the top of their heads, making them look like they are wearing headphones. The site was once an active whaling and sealing location.

Now whaling boats are considered artefacts, and visitors are not permitted to disturb them. Nor are penguins to be approached.

Note the scruffy-looking brownish figure to the left of the standing penguin. That is a young penguin which is moulting. These are quite vulnerable to stress, and visitors must remain at least four or five metres away from them.

An iceberg sits in the Palmer archipelago off Graham Land. The lovely shades of blue are acquired after millions of years of pressure which is exerted by layers of ice continually being piled on top of each other.

Icebergs are formed when chunks of glaciers break off in a process called calving.

Several icebergs coast past Brabant Island in the Palmer archipelago. The snow-capped mountainous backdrop is typical of this part of Antarctica. Whilst it looks quite icy, the temperature at the time this photograph was taken was actually around three or four degrees Celsius, nothing worse than the average UK winter.

Ice coats the surface of the water on a hazy day in the Melchior islands, a small group within the Palmer archipelago. In the distance, towards the upper right of the photo, an iceberg can just about be seen through the mist.

Birds perch on a jagged iceberg along Danco Island. A surprising variety of wildlife flourishes in Antarctica. An abundance of krill and small fish bring humpback whales to this part of the continent in the summer.

Seals and sea lions as well as the ubiquitous penguins are to be found.

A humpback whale feeding at the surface. The whale is engaged in 'lunge feeding' during which the whale lunges to the surface, scooping up krill, other small fish, and plankton.

Humpback whales can eat up to 1,360 kilograms a day. They are normally found in the Caribbean but in the summer they move to Antarctica to take advantage of the abundance of food there.

A humpback whale flipper breaks the surface. Flippers, which are quite long on humpbacks, aid in manoeuvrability. Sea gulls are swarming to take advantage of the feeding.

Gentoo penguins roost at Mikkelson Harbour on Trinity Island. While other birds have their legs in the middle of their bodies, giving them good balance and the ability to walk smoothly, penguins have their legs at the end of their bodies.

This is why they move so awkwardly on land. However, this is also why they are such excellent swimmers.

A sea lion basks on dry rocks in the sun. A seal differs from a sea lion in that the latter have visible ear flaps, while those of a seal are small holes without flaps.

This seal is preparing to move from the ice into the water. Another difference between seals and sea lions is that seals have much smaller flippers, forcing them to wriggle along when they try to move on land.

Sea lions, with their larger flippers, are able to walk on land.

This seal is sound asleep. Yet another difference between them and sea lions is the fact that sea lions tend to be brown in colour.

This beautiful mountain range on Anvers Island in the Palmer archipelago is typical of the scenery which graces this western part of the Antarctic peninsula.

By convention, for navigation purposes, the prime meridian, which nicely bisects the continent, is used to demarcate the eastern and western halves of Antarctica.

Maps display the Atlantic end of the meridian as 'north' and the Pacific end as 'south'.

Icebergs dot Fournier Bay in Anvers Island in the Palmer archipelago. The other-worldly aspect of the Antarctic landscape is somewhat awe-inspiring.

Adelie penguins all face the same direction at Damoy Point on Wienke Island in the Palmer archipelago. These penguins can be identified by the white circles around their eyes which look like misapplied makeup.

A landmark at Damoy Point is a hut which was constructed in 1973 by the British. No longer used, it still contains scientific instruments which have been designated as historical artefacts.

Another perspective of Damoy Point shows its icy waters, snowy mountains, and richly-patterned sky.

This small blue iceberg moves past Brabant Island, the second-largest island of the Palmer archipelago.

A Belgian exploratory expedition in the nineteenth century named the island after the Belgian province of Brabant. To its north lies Liège Island, named after the Belgian city which was once the seat of a prince-bishopric.

More ice at Danco Island. The flat stretch to the left on the mainland below the low-level cloud is a glacier. Doubtless the glacier is feeding all that ice in the sea.

A basalt tower which is known as Edinburgh Rock looms in the fog near Half Moon Island in the South Shetland Islands, which lie off the western side of the Antarctic peninsula. A basalt tower or column is formed when molten lava suddenly cools and contracts before it reaches the opening of an erupting volcano.

The stress of cooling can create the hexagonal structures seen here. Once the volcano erodes over time, the column becomes exposed.

An iceberg with an interesting shape is on full display here. Icebergs, of course, come in all shapes and sizes. One recently-notorious iceberg which is the size of the US state of Rhode Island is drifting in the South Atlantic towards South Georgia Island.

That iceberg has raised alarm bells due to its potential for striking the island and disrupting the feeding habits of penguins and seals which make their home there.

The irregular coast of Anvers Island displays the blue colour of ice which has been subjected to millions of years of pressure against the white ice of more recent times.

The pressure has removed the air from the ice. The lack of the air causes colours of long wavelengths to be absorbed - such as red - while blue, with its shorter wavelength, is reflected and therefore is visible to the naked eye.

Photos by John De Cleene & Clare De Cleene in January 2025 and from the Viking Polaris public photo-sharing portal.