Our first landings at the South Shetland Islands

A night at a slow pace to time our entrance to the South Shetland Islands during daylight and navigate the English Strait enjoying the rocky and icy landscape that, for the first time,e we see after the last handful of days at sea. This waterway leads from the Drake Passage to the Bransfield Strait between the mountainous and glaciated Greenwich and Robert Islands. Its characteristics, the often powerful blowing winds and strong currents, make for careful navigation along this channel. As we pass by, the Europa leaves behind port and starboard descriptive named features such as the so-called Table Island, Watch Keeper, the Bowler and Passage Rocks, and the offshore reef awash Chesire and the mainly submerged Chaos Reef. 

Nowadays well charted, these very same waters sure represented a hazardous navigation back when they were first spotted and sailed. Accredited accounts tell us about these islands' discovery in 1819 when the merchant captain Willam Smith was blown off by a gale far south and saw land. But there are also other unofficial stories dating back to 1598 and 1603 when furious storms apparently pushed the Dutch merchant Dirck Gherritz and Gabriel de Castilla respectively to those latitudes, and both came back with stories of the existence of land in this region. 

Islands that were found and were home for abundant populations of seals and whales. A fact that very soon attracted first the sealing fleet, then the whaling ships, which kept exploring new territories and hunting grounds. 

And in between all of that, our first destination to set foot ashore in Antarctica is the Aitcho archipelago, a curious name that comes from the charting of the area in 1935 by the Admiralty Hydrographic Office (H.O. hence Aitcho). 

As a reminder of these old whaling times, we first go ashore at the so called Whalebone Beach in the southern shoreline of the small Barrientos Island, a flat sandy coastline peppered with whale bones that gently climbs to a long sort of rounded ridge, home for the first penguins rookeries that we visit during our trip. 

Down at the easy areas, a myriad of Gentoo penguins wander around. At this time of the year, the almost fledged chicks don’t stay around the nests but walk around and, with their characteristic curiosity, try to investigate everything on their way, including us. Higher up and perched atop some small rocky cliffs or on top of the several hills spread all over the area, we can find breeding groups of Chinstrap penguins. Those seem to have finished with their offspring a bit earlier, and most of the individuals we see are moulting adults, with the occasional fledged youngster here and there. Skuas and Giant petrels keep a close eye on their surroundings and the penguin gatherings along the beach and don’t miss the chance for a good hunt. 

After a good couple of hours ashore, it is time to embark again and keep on our way along the English Strait towards the Bransfield Strait. The next destination is the so-called Fort Point, a prominent headland at the Southeastern coast of Greenwich Island. 

Heading directly to it, we are surprised by several small blows in the horizon. A closer look reveals a fantastic sight. Under the sunshine and the blue skies, a large pot of Orcas travel southwards. They are split into three smaller subgroups, and amongst them, there are a couple of Fin whales. Reducing speed first and then just adrift, we can all enjoy a close look at some of the individuals. Their size and colour pattern, with a distinctive back saddle, the grey and black pigmentation, and the large eye-patch tell us that they are what we call Type B Orcas, the most common ones along the Bransfield and the Gerlache Straits further south. 

The landing can wait until we experience a good sight. It is not always that we have the chance to come across Killer whales during our trips, especially in such good seas and weather conditions. 

After a while, they keep on their way and gradually disappear in the horizon. Time for heading back to the spot we plan to visit this afternoon, one of the most spectacular in the South Shetlands. Fort Point, the eye-catching basaltic rock formation sticking off Greenwich Island to the Bransfield Strait, is connected to the Musala glacier on the western side by a low-lying isthmus. A place of the roughest beauty that almost always represents a difficult zodiac disembarkation. The site offers a large array of different sceneries and wildlife, including Antarctic shags, rookeries of Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins, rocky cliffs, glacier fronts and even a relatively easy access to a nunatak, a sort of pyramidal peak that pierce through the ice in the middle of a glacier. 

The whole area teems with penguins and countless Antarctic Fur seals that make for a cautious walk around during our visit. 

After a fantastic first day in the South Shetlands, now was the time to heave anchor and start heading towards Deception Island, where we planned a full program for tomorrow.