This was our first expedition out in the Zodiacs where we were not aiming to land. Instead we headed out between the rocks and islands that make up Yalours.

Experience

Shockingly white, stark against their surroundings, the icebergs in the Antarctic are so clean and smooth you barely accept that they are real, and not somehow cheap fakes. As the water passes them, it wears away any rough edges under the water, and slowly the centre of gravity shifts until the whole thing rolls. This can be quite the shock to the unprepared Zodiac driver or Kayaker. We were fortunately enough to see a roll on a small iceberg, perhaps the size of a SUV.

Tiny icebergs dot the passageways between islands, whilst larger ones dominate the view. They look strangely pure when seen next to the browns, reds and dark rocks of a nest of penguins or seals.

The lounge of the iceberg, that lip of ice that may exist below the surface but stretching out rather than down often causes the water to take on an almost luminous blue, impossible to do justice in a photograph.

Wildlife

Gentoo Penguins

High on the rocks, living on ice that could almost pass for a modern art print, with its strange reds, yellows and browns from algae and guano, the Gentoo penguins were in moulting season, the chicks were grown, most of their down had turned into feathers, but they were not quite ready to venture into the ocean. One or two waddled down to the edge of the rocks, flapping their flippers and leaning forward, but not quite having the confidence to leap into the ocean and take their next steps.

The adults were mottled, their moulting causing some to be the slick black we expect of a penguin whilst others had large fuzzy tufts of feathers in patches over their bodies.

They cluster together in social groups, calling out with their bright orange beaks.

Fur Seals

Tucked away in a small protected bay formed by a horseshoe of rocks, two young male fur seals were battling. To my untrained eye, it looked more in play than in combat, but they would grab at each others throats, forcing the other back, before diving into the shallow water for a brief time.

The sight was incredible, we were perhaps ten meters away from them, and the only obstacle to our view, was each other. The two lines on the Zodiac formed a undulating S shape as we each moved position to reframe a shot as the person in front of us moved.

We encounter a few other fur seals during the drive, but they were distant, mostly sunning themselves (if that is ever the right term in the antarctic) on the tops of rocks. Often close, but not too close to a penguin colony.

Adélie penguin

Smaller and sillier than the Gentoo, the Adelie penguins look similar at first glance, living in similar places and gather in similar numbers. In fact, Adelie and Gentoo can sometimes be seen together, ignoring each other, it is penguins of the same genius who fight, Adelie and Gentoo are more like neighbours in a London block of flats. Aware of each other, but indifferent.

The size and shape of these little penguins makes them quite adorable, and their white eye rings makes them look like someone has stuck google eyes on their heads.

Location

Discovered and named by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05, under Charcot who named many of the spots on our trip. The islands are named for Lieutenant Jorge Yalour, an officer of the Argentine corvette Uruguay.

65° 13' 68 S 64° 08' 99 W

Yalour Islands