Photographing Penguins in Antarctica

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Sunday, 4 January 2026 - Reached Elephant Island under foggy but calm conditions, with morning sightings of minke whales, swimming Chinstrap penguins, and icebergs along the approach. Zodiac operations circled Point Wild and nearby Chinstrap colonies, viewing the historic Shackleton site, wildlife, ice formations, and a leopard seal.

We traveled overnight toward Elephant Island. We were able to watch our progress into the island in the morning.

In February 1915 Shackleton and his ship Endurance became stuck in the ice of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. For 14 months the men of the expedition lived on the ice while drifting northwest. In April 1916 they sailed in row boats to Elephant Island. There 22 men waited for rescue as Shackleton sailed off to South Georgia. We are returning to the place the 22 men survived for 4 months.

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A Minke whale displays its back. The Minke whales are the second-smallest baleen whale; only the pygmy right whale is smaller. They live up to 50-60 years. Due to its size it was not hunted during the whaling period, so it is now one of the most common.
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A couple of Chinstrap penguins swim by the ship.
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A large iceberg in the fog, hopefully, the ship can see these guys.
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A group of Chinstrap penguins on an iceberg. Once again I wonder how they can get from the ocean to the iceberg.
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We have arrived offshore of Elephant Island. It was a very foggy day but the seas were calm.
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A rocky island off our destination, Point Wild.
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Near the left center is Point Wild. Point Wild is where, in 1916, most of the crew of Shackleton's Endurance shipwrecked expedition stayed with two boats to live under for four months until rescued. Point Wild is named after Frank Wild, who was the leader of the survivors.
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We boarded the zodiacs for a ride around a Chinstrap colony and Point Wild.

This little penguin decided to pose with an iceberg in the background.
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Looks like we have been spotted by this Chinstrap.
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Pretty iceberg with a group of penguins - assuming they are Chinstrap as I can't tell the little black spots species.
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Fog gripped Elephant Island preventing us from seeing the mountains.
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I am amazed the little birds can hop and waddle their way to the top of a small mountain.
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A bust of Captain Luis Alberto Pardo, with a monolith and plaques, has been placed at the point to celebrate the rescue of the survivors of the Endurance. Captain Pardo was the captain of the rescue ship Yelcho from Chile..
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Five penguins march up a very steep slope.
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A vertical of the Chinstrap penguins against the mountains in the fog of Elephant Island.
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Chinstrap penguins swimming in front of an iceberg.
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A closeup of the Chinstrap penguins on a steep hill. Hard to see in this picture without blowing it up, there are two Macaroni penguins on the hill. I did not see them from the zodiac.
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Ice Mélange in the water in front of Elephant Island. This is small ice pieces that we could move through but the guides stayed away from entering the ice field.
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An iceberg inside the small bay.
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A vertical pano of the penguins and the mountain in the fog.
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Gulls sitting on an iceberg.
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Very interesting pattern on an iceberg.
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This iceberg looks like it has tipped over.
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A Leopard seal along an iceberg. This seal was creating an eerie sound while we watched him.
A video of the Leopard seal call - very haunting.
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Pretty blue iceberg.
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Little Chinstrap penguins swimming past an iceberg.

An exhilarating end to our visit to Antarctica. We would now turn north, like Shackleton, and travel to South Georgia - although it will only take us 2 days, it took Shackleton two weeks.
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