ANTARCTIC PENINSULA – Birding the Last Continent

ANTARCTIC PENINSULA BIRDING & WILDLIFE TOUR: OVERVIEW

All our Antarctic Peninsula expeditions are ‘guaranteed departures’

Birdquest’s Antarctic Peninsula birding tours are a truly marvellous bird and wildlife adventure that takes you to the ‘great white continent’. Our Antarctica birding tour is an expedition-style cruise that offers up a feast of seabirds and marine mammals (seals, whales and dolphins) that you will remember forever. You don’t even have to put up with very cold conditions in Antarctica in order to see all these wonders – it is relatively mild down there at the time of year we visit.

A visit to Antarctica is like no other journey on earth; it is indeed about as close to visiting another planet as any of us are likely to get. We can say without hesitation that this is the ultimate wildlife adventure, a wilderness experience that is truly uplifting and really does make the heart sing with the joy of being alive. If you ever have the chance to go to South Georgia and Antarctica then take it, for you will surely never regret it!

Antarctica is the last frontier on our ever-shrinking planet, a place that every traveller longs to explore but so few ever see. An uninhabited continent of more than twelve million square kilometres almost entirely encrusted with ice – an awesomely silent but starkly beautiful frozen world. Here some of the most magnificent scenery of all can be seen under the cleanest skies on earth. Towering volcanoes, stark mountain ranges, lowering headlands, icebergs like floating cathedrals – all are enhanced by the peculiar quality of the light, which lends an ethereal beauty to the savage grandeur of the landscapes.

This is a land of superlatives, at one and the same time the coldest, highest, windiest, driest, most barren and least known area on earth. Some 90% of the world’s freshwater is locked up in Antarctica’s icecap, which if it were to melt would cause sea levels to rise over 200ft (over 60m), drowning much of the world’s arable land and hundreds of major cities.

One of the strangest features of this lost continent is the fact that Antarctica is surrounded by the richest oceans of all, thronged with marine life ranging from tiny krill to elephant seals and whales, and supporting enormous numbers of seabirds. The tameness of Antarctica’s seabirds and sea mammals is legendary and this remarkable journey will not only provide numerous opportunities to see albatrosses, petrels, penguins and seals at sea but also see us wandering right amongst their breeding colonies, accepted without question by creatures that have learned no fear of man. Whale-watching is a feature of Antarctic cruises and we are likely to enjoy some spectacular views of these leviathans breaching and sounding right next to our ship.

Our Antarctica birding tour starts at Ushuaia, the southernmost town in the world, situated on the windswept but spectacularly beautiful shores of Tierra del Fuego. Here we join our ship and sail out into the South Atlantic en route to the Antarctic Peninsula.

The sea crossings from South America to Antarctica offer some of the best pelagic birding experiences in the world, with no fewer than five species of albatross routinely encountered (Black-browed, Grey-headed, Light-mantled, Wandering and Southern Royal) and several others possible, as well as both Southern and Northern Giant Petrels, Cape, White-chinned, Soft-plumaged, Kerguelen and Blue Petrels, Slender-billed, Antarctic and Fairy Prions, Great Shearwater, Wilson’s, Grey-backed and Black-bellied Storm Petrels, and Common Diving Petrels. We can also expect a good selection of cetaceans, including some large whales.

Steaming ever further south, across the Drake Passage and far beyond, our Antarctica birding tour comes at last to our ultimate goal, the Antarctic Peninsula, an icy finger of land pointing towards South America and first seen by human eyes only last century, and the rugged South Shetland Islands, home to millions of penguins and petrels. Here in Antarctica proper we will encounter Weddell, Crabeater and Leopard Seals, penguins and whales amidst the ice floes, visit Adelie, Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguin rookeries, experience the awesome scenery of the ice-choked Antarctic channels, watch pure-white Snow Petrels and piebald Antarctic Petrels soaring around icebergs, and visit the shores of the Antarctic continent itself. At this time of year, with the birds dispersing from the colonies, we even have a real if slim chance of encountering the legendary Emperor Penguin.

From the Antarctic Peninsula, we sail northwards back across the deep waters of the Drake Passage to the southernmost tip of South America, where the turbulent waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific meet at lonely Cape Horn, enjoying yet more pelagic birding before very reluctantly returning to ‘civilization’ at the port of Ushuaia with memories that only a lucky few can ever hope for.

The great advantage of taking this particular cruise, if you are especially interested in seeing Antarctic birds and other wildlife in all their glory, is that this particular itinerary is very strongly wildlife-orientated. Oceanwide Expeditions, who operate our cruise, usually have at least one experienced birder/ornithologist amongst their expedition leaders.

Furthermore, the primary Birdquest leader will accompany our group regardless of numbers and two leaders will accompany the group if there are more than 12 participants.

Those who want to can join an optional extension in southern Tierra del Fuego, which provides yet more excellent bird watching, great photography and spectacular scenery. Kindly note the option of the ‘extension to the extension’ extra day for White-bellied Seedsnipe. See the Detailed Itinerary for further information.

Birdquest has operated Antarctica birding and wildlife tours since 1990.

This tour can be taken together with the ATLANTIC ODYSSEY: if you book both expeditions you will receive a 10% discount off the total cost of the two expeditions.

Why is travelling on a smaller expedition ship and in a smaller group so important for birding and wildlife-orientated visitors to Antarctica? Many people are unaware that the tightening environmental regulations in Antarctica mean that it is no longer possible to land more than 100 passengers at a time at the great majority of landing sites.

This means that if you go on a ship that takes well over 100 passengers, either landing durations per person will be greatly reduced compared to those available with the smaller ships, or there will be fewer landings (either because not all passengers can go ashore at any given landing or because the ship will need to book two landing slots, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, at each location, leaving half the passengers on board during each landing slot).  Sadly the trend in Antarctica is for larger and larger expedition ships, and there are now very few ships left that take fewer than 150 passengers and some that take 500 or more! This makes economic sense for the cruise companies, but is a huge step backwards for wildlife enthusiasts in our view. The whole point of going all that way and spending all that money is to have lots of time ashore in this magical part of the world!

Another important aspect to bear in mind is that all expedition ships have limited space at the bow and at the stern. These are the best places for birding during the sea crossings, at least in normal weather conditions. Even the bridge, where you have to look through glass, can only hold so many. If you go in a huge group of birders there will inevitably be frustrations, in our opinion, as too many people want the best observing spots and as communication weakens so good birds are missed. On a ‘normal’ cruise we often have the bows and stern to ourselves or share them with a few others. Most folk on these cruises are not interested in sustained seawatching.

Is there a chance of seeing Emperor Penguin? Slim but real. March is the highest chance time of year for expedition cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula other than dedicated Emperor Penguin expeditions with helicopters. This is because the birds are dispersing far from the colonies by this time of the year.

Accommodation & Transport: We shall be sailing on the MV Plancius, a converted, ice-strengthened former Dutch naval vessel of 3434 tons and 89 metres in length operated by the well-respected Oceanwide Expeditions, who are based in the Netherlands. Plancius is a very well-loved expedition ship and nowadays one of the relatively few smaller (100 or so passengers) ships available. While comfortable and modern, she is not a ‘cruise ship’ in the traditional manner. She is specifically designed for exploring wild places and enjoying wild nature, rather than carrying huge numbers of people.

Plancius can accommodate a maximum of 108 passengers in 52 passenger cabins, all with private toilet and shower. Cabins consist of quad cabins with a porthole and two lower single beds and two upper, triple cabins with a porthole and two lower single beds and one upper, twin cabins with a porthole and two lower single beds, twin cabins with a window and two lower single beds, somewhat larger deluxe twin cabins with a window and two lower single beds and superior twin cabins which are almost 50% larger than a standard twin, with at least one window and one queen-sized bed. Cabins have ample storage space and an outside view.

Public facilities include a restaurant/lecture theatre, an observation lounge/bar with panoramic views, a library and a small shop. Food is plentiful, of good quality, waitress-served and prepared by experienced chefs. The ship carries a complement of expedition staff who, as well as guiding excursions ashore and zodiac cruises, double up as guest lecturers and give informal talks on the environment, wildlife and history of the areas visited. The bridge is normally open to all (except when the ship is docking) and provides a great viewpoint whenever it is too breezy to stand comfortably outside.

Much of the sailing is done at night (or what passes for ‘night’ in summer in high latitudes), thus maximizing opportunities for going ashore and enjoying the harsh but beautiful landscapes of Antarctica to the full. Landings are carried out using a fleet of zodiacs/naiads, the rugged, fast-moving type of inflatables first developed by Jacques Cousteau for expedition work which allow safe landings on remote coastlines in all types of conditions.

Further information about the ship is available on the Oceanwide Expeditions website: https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/our-fleet/m-v-plancius

Walking: The walking effort during our Antarctica birding tour is mostly easy, occasionally moderate. Walking effort during the standard extension in Tierra del Fuego is easy. However, the hike up into the mountains during the optional extra extension day for White-bellied Seedsnipe is fairly arduous.

Climate: Quite mild at this season (and a surprise to many visitors, who imagine extreme cold is a year-round feature of Antarctica). In the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounds the shade temperature is generally a little above freezing point. On sunny days it can feel relatively warm if there is no wind. In contrast, it can feel distinctly cold when windy at sea. Sunny spells are interspersed with (often longer) overcast periods and some rain or snow are to be expected. In Tierra del Fuego conditions are typically cool, but considerably warmer than further south.

Bird/Sea Mammal Photography: Opportunities during our Antarctica birding tour are truly outstanding.

Landings & Itinerary:  Adverse weather conditions may prevent landings on exposed coasts. It is, however, very unusual for more than a few intended landings to have to be called off during a cruise, and there is usually an alternative landing site available on such occasions. The information given about possible landing sites should be taken as a general indication about what is likely to be achieved during any given tour: every Antarctica cruise is different, being dependent on the amount of time available, sea and ice conditions, and the weather, and so it is likely that some of the sites visited on your particular tour will be different from those described.

Getting to Ushuaia in good time: Owing to the possibility, however small, of a severe airline delay, we would recommend that all participants on our Antarctica, Falkland Islands & South Georgia birding tour have one or two hotel nights at the cruise start point prior to the tour. Kindly note that in the event you do not arrive in time, the ship will not wait and neither the cruise operator nor the tour operator can make a refund in such circumstances. Arriving early also has the advantage that your luggage could still catch up with you, should it go astray. We can make hotel bookings for you on request, both before and after the tour. There is also the option to join our Tierra del Fuego Pre-Tour Extension (with or without the optional White-bellied Seedsnipe extra day).