Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) New Island

Arriving at New Island, it looked fairly windswept with not much to see.

We watched the unloading of the zodiacs with great anticipation.

So the Albatross group, ( which we are part of), were up first for our first excursion. We were anchored in the south harbour of the New island conservation trust. So off to the mud room to don our parkas and mud boots. We had been given a good briefing about how to get in and out and it all worked well, though, with the winds, it was certainly a wet trip and we were pleased to have invested in a dry bag backpack to keep the camera gear dry.

We arrived passing the remains of The Protector 3. Built in WW2 as a mine sweeper. Then used for hunting seals, transporting things like coal and even as a tourist vessel. Abandoned in 1969 exactly where we saw it.

So then we disembarked – which means swivelling around on your bum towards the engine and then right around so you land in the shallow water. We had 2.5 hours to make a 0.6km trek to the rookeries on the very windy side of the island. It was a fairly tough trek across countryside that very much reminded us of North Devon. Plenty of geese about.

The Rookeries were simply amazing. We were to stay at least 5m away but some of the penguins hopped over to us. We could not believe how high they had come from the water to nest. The whole thing was fascinating and before I knew it I had taken 134 photos which we culled mercilessly when we came back to the ship.

The rock hopper penguins are just gorgeous. They are about 39 cm (15 in) high and weigh 3.4 kg (7.5 lb). They are the smallest of the penguins in the Antarctic. They are rated as vulnerable with their numbers falling. It is estimated there are 272,000 pairs left in the world. Humans have harvested them for their skins, oils and eggs. They often nest with the black-browed albatross. These guys are rated as endangered as many are killed by longline fishing. They are about 87cm (34”) long, weigh about 3.5kg (7.7lb) with a wingspan of 2.5m (8ft). (The biggest albatross – the wandering albatross goes as wide as 3.5m). They are bigger than the rockhopper penguins as you can see.

Better give you some pictures and I truly have culled these down. Enjoy.

Within the rookeries, odd species often join in and we spotted this Antarctic shag.

Skuas hang around, hoping for parents to leave so they can snatch the chicks. Thankfully we didn’t see that happen but I guess everyone has to live.

More penguins and albatross do I hear you say? OK here goes.

The albatross are just as wonderful.

These two were courting.

Weather is being pretty kind with loads of sun and 12 degrees Celsius, though in the wind it seems colder until you snuggle into the new parka which is amazing.

We were warned to keep our bags closed at all times to ensure the rats that are still a problem on New Island couldn’t sneak in and be brought back to the ship. We also walked through a special solution going out and when coming back on board to ensure we keep everything sterile and don’t bring disease or pest species to these very vulnerable places.

Under here somewhere is a chick.

All too soon it was time to trek back to the ship.

The Trip to our next excursion was to be approx. 3 hours and with 30 plus knot winds the seas were reasonably high though hard to capture on film from a porthole.

These small ships certain move more than the Celebrity Solstice but we are both coping fine – even enjoying it. I am sure I spotted two dolphins but then they were gone. The waves were getting so high that birds were disappearing flying between them. We had waves splash up our porthole a couple of times.

Today we had an afternoon recap and briefing instead of an evening version as we will be late into the next stop due to the sea and wind conditions. Here is a little of what we learned.

Sea lions down to 3% of what there used to be here in the Falklands. Reduced by them being killed for their oil and also reduction of their food supply by over fishing. It has now risen to 14 degrees.

So of 134 pictures taken this morning I have kept 45. Even some of those were good but you simply can’t keep them all.

Here’s a blog post by a photographer who has worked here alot. Great info and pics. https://explore.quarkexpeditions.com/blog/why-i-love-traveling-to-the-falkland-islands-as-a-landscape-and-wildlife-photographer

I have also decided to blog excursion by excursion rather than day by day. I have to say that I felt I had my money’s worth just from this first excursion. It was simply breathtaking. Stand by for the afternoon excursion tomorrow, onwards to West Point.