The season has officially begun!
Hans Hansson left Stanley on Sunday morning with a boat full of eager photographers. Also very eager crew, as this will be our first trip with the Hans Hansson. Given the weather, we headed out and north towards Volunteer Point to try to land to see the King Penguin Colony. It was a wet landing – its an exposed beach, but we were lucky and the swells and seas were calm “enough” to get a shore.
What started as a grey day lifted as the afternoon went on, bringing pockets of sun rays on the the white chests of the King Penguins, highlighting their beautiful orange / yellow necks. The chicks that were born last January / February still have a month before they molt, so they were actively curious all afternoon – like a 2 or 3 year old child wanting to figure out the world. The king penguins are strongly colored, but their chicks are solid brown – and fat!!!! It was my first time to see king penguin chicks and they were distinctive.
Volunteer Point is quite an amazing place – the beach is pure white, fine sand (if only the water temp were quite a few degrees warmer!). The penguins against the sand – makes its look like they are in a fine snow. Further inland where the colony is, the penguins share their grassy knoll with sheep and geese, as well as gentoo and magellanic penguins. Everyone seems to get along more or less. With so much going on, its a place where you need to find a good spot, sit, and take in the view you have and everything in it. Doing so – the chicks lost no time in coming up to all of us to figure us out. They were not so good at the 6m rule! The magellanics had eggs and were deep in their burrows. Gentoos hadn’t laid yet. The three types of penguins were all at different stages of life cycles, as each has a different seasonal cycle!
It was a spectacular first day – we spent more than 4 hours ashore just absorbing (and photographing) and beauty of it all.
And that was only day one of the season!
A big thanks to Derek who is the Guardian of such a beautiful place for welcoming us to Volunteer Point and to Dion, who is the ex Hans Hansson-owner, and a Falkland Islander. He is joining us on this trip, bringing all of his boat and local knowledge along as well – we are eternally grateful!
– Laura
