Antarctic Peninsular

In 2007 & 2008 I was working as a Zodiac operator on a cruise ship down on the Antarctic Peninsula, for 2 seasons, which were 6-7 weeks long. Each cruise was about 12-14 days departing from Ushuaia at the bottom of South America down to the Peninsula.

Many consider Antarctica as the last frontier, and few get to experience its marvels. It’s a place to be overawed by the magnificent scenery, and a place like no other. 

The Antarctic Peninsula is a fantastic place, it’s also called Palmer Peninsula, Graham Land, or Tierra de O’Higgins. The Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Antarctic continent.

Beneath the ice sheet that covers it, the Antarctic Peninsula consists of a string of bedrock islands; these are separated by deep channels whose bottoms lie at depths considerably below current sea level. They are joined by a grounded ice sheet.

Zodiacs are rubber boats, these are safe, durable and dependable boats which can land in many normally inaccessible sites such as beaches, shallow river banks, rocky outcrops, coral reef flats, and ice floes.

We would take customers ashore on these boats, on guided excursions on the shore, going for walks and wildlife spotting.

The Peninsula experiences a summer melting season, which results in isolated, snow-free areas forming habitats for plant life, and offering breeding grounds for marine mammals and birds. In particular, chinstrap and gentoo penguins nest in these locations. On the beaches you can often see fur seals, crabeater seals, leopard seals, and Weddell seals. Several species of bird including the Blue-eyed shags.

Andy Woods | Wanaka Commercial Photographer | NZIPP accredited photographer