King George Island, Antarctica

October 1999 - February 2000

Copacabana camp, King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.
What a magical place. I spent my 25th birthday with Adelie, Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins. There was an occasional stray Macaroni Penguin and we also monitored South Polar & Brown Skuas, Cape Petrels, Giant Petrels. I would love to get back down there. There were 3 of us at the camp - Laina Shill, Kelly Wallis & myself. We hiked across Ecology Glacier once a week to hang out with the Polish base camp (Arctowski), do laundry & drink vodka. When I close my eyes and think about COPA, I can hear the penguins calling, I can smell the guano and I miss it all so every much.

(pictures are low res. to prevent unauthorized use)South Shetland Islands group, King George Island is the largest on the right.
We flew out to Punta Arenas, Chile and from there we boarded the R/V LM Gould for a 3 day cruise across the Drake Passage to King George Is.

loading our gear onto the zodiac

orange people helping us off-load, LMG is in the background

camp COPA

view of COPA, little dots on left are penguins

COPA beach

Ipanema beach

front of Ecology Glacier

hiking to Arctowski

Ecology Glacier

zodiac in water

Weddell Seal

Wayne tending to the BBQ

typical day in the colony

Kelly & bird with radio transmitter

Sorting krill (the main food item of penguins) with Ladi

leg bands of a Brown Skua

Brown Skua pair

American Sheathbill
(or 'shitbill' as the Poles called them because they pick through penguin guano)

Blue-eyed Shag

Macaroni penguin terrorizing the Adelies

Kelp Gull

Giant Petrel chick

Giant Petrel adult & chick

getting into the zodiac..

me with squirming Gentoo chicks after weighing them

Gentoo chicks

Fur seal & penguins

Elephant seal male and female

Chinstrap penguin adult & chick

Cape Petrel adult & chick

bruise that I received from a penguin


Brown skua chick

The Box "open-air" outhouse

blonde fur seal

Arctowski base camp

walking in a straight line..


adult on nest

BIG belly! this one just got fed..

getting into the water

chick creche

penguin copulation

Adelie colony

Adelie colony

molting chick

lounging chick

almost fledgling with band

chicks chasing parents

Adelie parent & chick