Photo Essay: Unreal Antarctica

 
 

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Antarctica, my 7th continent.  It goes without saying that it is an incredible place.  I'll keep the words to a minimum here, but please don't be shy, and let me know what you think in the comments or any of the other ways you can track me down on here.

 
 

Antarctica. Like nowhere else.

 
 

Due to the density of ice vs water, only 1/9th of an iceberg is above water.

 
 

The darker blue ice is 'old ice' and perhaps thousands of years old.

 
 

Collecting pebbles to make a sweet nest and impress the ladies. High priority in the life of a penguin.

 
 

Recently hatched gentoo chicks, eating goo from the mother's mouth. Yum.

 
 

A gentoo penguin tries to ward off a petrel from coming near the colony.

 
 

The cycle of life continues on for a petrel or other predator, here at the expense of a penguin.

Cue sad discovery channel music.

 
 

Shot at 11pm, the midnight sun in full effect on the Antarctic continent.

 
 

Whale bones lying in a shallow bay, likely from the whaling in the area during the first few decades of the 20th century.

 
 

Snow blown sheer, leaving beautiful soft lines against blue skies and wispy clouds

 
 

Gentoo penguins set up home in a scene that reminds me of the monolith from Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey."  What can we expect next from our future penguin overlords?

 
 

Blue ice, reflections in water that appears black, rocky mountains, and amazing skies. Antarctica.

 
 

Setting up camp on the rocks in an otherwise snowy white landscape.  Notice the path used by penguins to get from one rocky area to another.

 
 

You would be upset as well if someone crapped on your back.

 
 

It goes without saying that this Chinstrap penguin is one of my favorite captures.

 

Thanks to everyone for their patience.  I'll well behind on presenting my photos, but this is the 'tip of the iceberg' as they would say.  Hah

I would love to hear what you think.


PS: If you're thirsting for more, you can check out some more photos shot this past season in Antarctic from fellow travel bloggers Trans Americas Journey and Brendan's Adventures.

This post was featured by Matt Long in his Picks of the Week feature.