Yalour Islands

But right after lunch we reached Yalour Islands, a group of rocky islands that extends for 1.5 miles. They were discovered and named by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903-05, under Charcot. They were named for Lt. Jorge Yalour, Argentine Navy, an officer of the Argentine corvette Uruguay which came to the rescue of the shipwrecked Swedish Antarctic Expedition in Nov. 1903. The islands are the home of countless Adelie penguins. Here we are close to the northernmost latitude of the distribution of this species in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. From here to the North the Gentoos seems to be doing pretty well colonising all bare rocks around, but Adelies are in need of colder waters and more sea-ice.

Despite the choppy seas, windy and rainy conditions, our guides tell us that we can actually try to land. A scout zodiac is sent and soon a calm and suitable landing spot is found for all of us. The low island offer spectacular views over the big mountains in the surroundings. Once ashore we started walking slowly towards the first Adelie groups, mostly crèches of chicks on the tops of all rocky hills, assisted by a few adults around. Also some of the adults were moulting, after finishing their breeding period.