snapshot of life on Livingston island

some have shorter life cycle than others

Hannah Point, Livingston Island and Yankee Harbour
8 Feb, 05 - 11:43    GPS-pos: °' | °' | Alt: 0 M
After a great nights sleep in the harbour of Deception island we headed 35 miles North to Hannah point, which was a fantastic landing site. Thanks to Dave Tingay for the suggestion. The diversity of wildlife was amazing; Elephant seals, Leopard seals, Antarctic fur seals, Minke and Humpback whales, Sheathbill birds, Gentoo and Chin Strap penguins, but unfortunately no Macaroni's this time. A high light was the interaction between the young penguin chicks (moulting phase), Southern Giant Petrels and Skuas(predatory birds) who marauded the seemingly helpless and dazed chicks. The adult penguins did their best to hold them off, but a few occasions we witnessed the shortened life cycle of the penguins. The ungainly gait and hunting techniques of the much larger Petrels defied belief as ambled after the chicks and made crude charges into bunches of 20 or 30 chicks, only to come up with nothing time after time. It seemed amazing that they can survive with such a low skill level, yet here in Antarctica the penguins can not afford to run away (energy wise) all day in such a harsh environment, so they just hope their parents protect them until they grow strong enough to fight off the predators or the next penguin becomes the centre of attention not them...The moulting female Elephant seals sat off to the side of the landing beach and made the most amazing burping and grunting sounds you could imagine, they are so enormous they look as is they need a forklift to shift them to the water! They initially kept an eye on us as we arrived but seemed to go to sleep only to wake spasmodically to screech at each other and grunt some indecipherable belchings when another would roll onto the next one, they would then rear up and show each other their teeth in a rather unfriendly manner, but then seconds later flop back to earth next to each other and go back to sleep.It was great wandering amongst the rocks and coves of Hannah point and with only 10 people we could spread out and on our own enjoy the peacefulness of the place, if only briefly. Just as we left for the day a large ship carrying 100's of people came ashore swarming everywhere, reminding us of why we came here in the manner we did. Small, relaxed and having a good time no matter what the weather.As we left the site I wished we had more time to sit and just absorb the goings on of the place, but with arrival of the larger vessel, it was time to move on. We are moored tonight in Yankee harbour in the South Shetlands Islands. Tomorrow, depending on weather conditions, we hope to go ashore to stretch our legs, make some turns, and generally have a shake down day of all the gear and new toys adorning peoples bunks. There is somewhere in the clouds only 2km away a 800m peak, we just haven't actually scene it yet. The predication is for 20-30 knots NW with moderate persistent precipitation so it might we be a wet experience and a harsh reality check on what Antarctica can and will dish out of the next month. Good night from Australis.