Boating at Palmer Station

I'm finally back at Palmer Station for the duration of my time in the Antarctic. My plan for my first night here was to hike the glacier behind the station -- a towering wall of ice that has been increasingly receding as the area continues to warm.

But then some folks put together a little boating expedition to nearby Torgersen Island, a rocky island less than 10 minutes away from the station by Zodiac. It's home to an Adelie penguin colony, a fact you can smell as well as see as you hit the downwind approach. Nearby at Elephant Rocks, brutish elephant seals slammed into one another like mammalian versions of sumo wrestlers ...





Elephant seals duels at the eponymously named Elephant Rocks.


Predatory skuas attempt to steal an Adelie chick from its parent.

Parental love among penguins.

Palmer Station with an iceberg in the harbor.

A Zodiac boat used for transportation in the area.