Picto Diary - 15 January 2023 - Curverville Island
Above: Gentoo penguin. Cuverville Island. Antarctica. 15 January 2023.
Leopard seal lunch.
Cuverville Island or Île de Cavelier de Cuverville is a dark, rocky island lying in Errera Channel between Arctowski Peninsula and the northern part of Rongé Island, off the west coast of Graham Land in Antarctica. Cuverville Island was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897–1899) under Adrien de Gerlache, who named it for Jules de Cuverville (1834–1912), a vice admiral of the French Navy.
The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of about 6500 pairs of gentoo penguins, the largest for this species on the Antarctic Peninsula. Other birds nesting at the site include southern giant petrels and Antarctic shags.
Above: Red Penguins. Cuverville Island. Antarctica. 15 January 2023.
Iceberg garden.
Above: Gouvernoren shipwreck. Enterprise Bay. Antarctica. 15 January 2023.
Enterprise Island or Isla Lientur or Isla Nansen Norte or North Nansen Island is an island that is 2.8 kilometers long and lies at the northeast end of Nansen Island in Wilhelmina Bay, off the west coast of Graham Land. Today, a visit to Enterprise Island is often part of Antarctic cruises.
Shipwreck. Governoren. Once a cattle carrier, the Norwegian ship eventually functioned as one of the largest whaling factory ships of her time. On January 27, 1915, the Governoren was at sea, performing her duties as a floating factory. A fire inadvertently started... a sailor knocked over a lantern?... and the ship was set afire. With thousands of gallons of whale oil on board there was never any hope of saving the ship.
Although resulting in the terrible loss of whale oil and of a historic ship, the captain set Governoren aground and the entire crew of eighty-five were able to escape, only to watch the blazing ship burn to ruin. None of the crew members were injured by the fire; all were rescued by another whaling vessel.
Above: Dinner with Sony and Trinh. Le Coromandel Restaurant abord L'Austral. Antarctica. 15 January 2023.
Fellow cruise goers seemed to be mostly upper middle class or above high achievers with an abundance of travel experience. Getting to know some of our fellow cruise goers was an important part of the Austral experience in Antarctica.
Sony, of Vietnam origin, studied in France before immigrating to the US. He holds both US and French citizenship. Sony met Trinh, a "boat person" immigrant to the US, in Orange County, California where they married and raised a family. They own and manage residential real estate and run a twenty-acre avocado farm in Orange County. They are skiers and among many other topics discussed we talked about making a Park City ski rendezvous happen this year or next.
Other cruise goer acquaintances made on L'Austral:
Mike and Kathy. Bismark, ND car dealer.
Antoine and Julia. Paris, France (16). He: Seven tech start-ups. She: General Counsel for a Paris based NGO.
Fred and Shelly. Washington, D.C. He: Retired, senior US government epidemiologist. She: Negotiator for NLRB.
Tim. Sydney, Australia. Retired contractor.