Useful Island & Neko Harbour
Day Five - Antarctica - 2022
A lovely morning cruise -featuring a leopard seal- followed by an absolutely epic cruise-and-landing in Neko Harbour.
Editor’s Comment: This travelogue, unlike the rest on this site, doesn’t dive much into the logistics, planning, and execution of the tour itself; this topic was so expansive I covered it in a separate page, About Ocean Endeavour & Sailing with Intrepid Travel / Chimu Adventures on the Best of Antarctica, which I highly encourage you read as a companion piece to this one.
Map Credit: OpenStreetMap
1. Cruising Towards Useful Island #1
In total contrast to the previous evening, the sun was out and shining when I awoke on the morning of day five. After slamming down some coffee, I headed back out to the viewing deck to capture some fantastic landscapes.
Four more landscape photographs follow.
2. Cruising Towards Useful Island #2
3. Cruising Towards Useful Island #3
4. Cruising Towards Useful Island #4
5. Cruising Towards Useful Island #5
Right before our call to the mudroom, we were visited by a couple of humpback whales who waved hello.
6. Useful Island #1
Once again, we suited up and made our way to the zodiacs for another adventure. Another scenic cruise, this one around Useful Island.
Another 360-degree video follows which gives you a taste of the area.
Editor’s Comment: Please ensure the video is playing back at the highest available resolution for the best experience.
7. Useful Island #2
Useful Island is a granite plinth in the middle of the Gerlache Strait where gentoo and chinstrap penguins make rookeries after climbing the island’s steep sides.
The weather held out quite well for us, and we were able to get some great views of landscapes and wildlife. Here, we see two gentoo penguins near the water’s edge.
8. Useful Island #3
And, here, some gentoos who have already made the steep climb upwards.
9. Useful Island #4
This gentoo forgot his wallet on South Georgia….
10. Useful Island #5
The leopard seal is the apex predator of the Antarctic waters.
We soon saw a leopard seal resting on some ice and we had to take the opportunity to check him out!
Three more photographs of the leopard seal follow.
11. Useful Island #6
12. Useful Island #7
13. Useful Island #8
14. Useful Island #9
Not long after the leopard seal encounter, we came upon some humpback whales … at first far off, but moving slowly towards us. Always amazing to see these angels of the ocean up -close-and-personal.
Three more humpback photographs follow.
15. Useful Island #10
16. Useful Island #11
17. Useful Island #12
18. Useful Island #13
As you can see, the cruise’s weather was perfect.
19. Useful Island #14
Another penguin deciding his next move.
20. Useful Island #15
I’ll confess, this is not a very evocative photograph, but this block of ice was in the process of flipping over as we past near it.
21. Useful Island #16
The weather was so nice some folks were even able to kayak.
22. Useful Island #17
Looping back to the frontside of the island, we saw some more gentoo penguins …
23. Useful Island #18
… and this lone chinstrap penguin.
Soon, we were back onto the boat … this time without the drama of losing the Ocean Endeavour in dense snow.
Enjoying what you’re seeing?
Consider a follow on Instagram.
Now back to the travelogue!
24. Neko Harbour #1
That afternoon was the part of the journey the entire vessel was looking forward to … an attempt to make landfall on the Antarctic mainland. Our goal: to step foot on the continent at Neko Harbour. But first, we needed to navigate tons of ice.
Editor’s Comment: Please ensure the video is playing back at the highest available resolution for the best experience.
25. Neko Harbour #2
The weather held out, thankfully, and the fog combined with the slowly setting sun made for wonderful blue and purple skies, deep shadows, and amazing reflections on the water. Perfect Instagram material.
Three more photographs of our cruise to the landing site follow. Realistically, though, if you want the full experience watch the video above.
26. Neko Harbour #3
27. Neko Harbour #4
28. Neko harbour #5
29. Neko Harbour #6
Our cruise to land took longer than anticipated on account of the ice, and were were limited to about 30 minutes to explore. The depth of the snow limited our ability to move around, but all the same it was a jam-packed half-hour. Penguins to photograph, landscapes to admire, requisite pictures with the Antarctic flag, and even a marriage proposal!
Six more photographs from our landing follow.
30. Neko Harbour #7
31. Neko Harbour #8
32. Neko Harbour #9
33. Neko Harbour #10
34. Neko Harbour #11
35. Neko Harbour #12
36. Neko Harbour #13
All good things must come to an end, and regrettably this would be our last shore landing on Antarctica. Of course, we didn’t know that yet and we still had plenty of mysteries left to uncover in Neko Harbour!
37. Neko Harbour #14
Everywhere you’d look here, there was something to see. Penguins jumping in-and-out of the water, a minke whale, and …
38. Neko Harbour #15
… this Weddell seal, which was just hanging out on a piece of ice. This was one of the most photogenic animals I’ve ever come across, and trust me I took way more than this and the following four photographs.
39. Neko Harbour #16
40. Neko Harbour #17
41. Neko Harbour #18
42. Neko Harbour #19
43. Neko Harbour #20
We were treated to some last-minute views of Neko Harbour on the way back to the ship. Two more follow.
44. Neko Harbour #21
45. Neko Harbour #22
Yes, I know what it looks like….
Back on the ship, the consensus was that this one of the most fantastic travel days any of us had ever had. For me, it definitely rates among my top travel experiences with my first total solar eclipse, following African wild dogs on the hunt, and my 2003 journey to Rocamadour (a story I hope one day to tell on this website!).
During our evening briefing, we were told the weather was scheduled to rapidly deteriorate into the night, and thus -for the second night- camping was cancelled. No worries, another bucket of beer!
