Celeste gets close to nature, Port Lockroy	Blue-eyed Shags, Jougla Point

Port Lockroy and Jougla Point

February 14

After lunch, we anchored in Port Lockroy which is located on Weinke Island between the very large Anvers Island and the peninsular mainland. We did two landings here:  a rocky outcrop called Jougla Point at the northwest end of Weinke Island, and another on Goudier Island.

Jougla point had a small colony of nesting blue-eyed shags and gentoo penguins, as well as an old ship-based whaling station. The shags do a very interesting mating ritual that involves the pair intertwining their heads and necks. It reminded me of two cobras "standing up"  and bobbing and weaving. Numerous whale bones litter the shore in one area, and have been combined into the skeletal structure of a blue whale. It was mostly covered with snow and guarded by penguins, but still very impressive. The snow cover was extensive - it hid the smell of the penguins and muted their calls. The surrounding mountainous scenery is supposedly truly spectacular, but we were thwarted with low clouds.

Goudier Island has a manned British Antarctic Survey hut, also known as the Operation Tabarin Hut, which operated from 1943 to 1962. It was originally manned during the war as an anti-German submarine base, but fell into disrepair. It was restored in the late 1990s into a visitor's center and museum. You could buy and mail postcards from here, and Doug joined the Antarctica Ski Club (complete with patch and pin and email newsletter). The snow here was lovely, and the wind had died making a very serene landing.

Jougla Point

	BAS Hut
	Peninsula
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