Antarctica 8: Paradise Bay Feb 2020

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.  It is frequented by whalers since the 1920s who coined the name “Paradise Harbor” until commercial whaling was banned here in 1986.  Nowadays, Paradise Bay and Neko Harbor are the only two harbors used for cruise ships to stop on the white continent and is also home to Argentina’s Almirante Brown Antarctic Base and Chile’s Gonzalez Videla Antarctic Base.  Argentina’s Almirante Brown Antarctic Base sits on top of a rocky perch and has been in operation since 1951 although only open in the summer months since 1984.  We saw some of the staff busy packing and getting ready to close up the station as we are soon entering the end of the summer season.   Paradise Bay is truly a perfect place for zodiac rides to spot whales, see the seals resting on the icebergs, and the calving of the glaciers.

Arriving at Paradise Bay! Time to get geared up again…

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

Argentina’s Almirante Brown Antarctic Base

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

Argentina’s Almirante Brown Antarctic Base in Paradise Bay

 

Argentina’s Almirante Brown Antarctic Base in Paradise Bay

 

 

Argentina’s Almirante Brown Antarctic Base in Paradise Bay

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

The zodiac was bobbing up and down too much for me to get a good shot of the whales hanging around the area.

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

Crabeater Seal popping up to say hello

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

Small colony of blue-eyed shags

 

 

Blue-eyed Shag

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

Paradise Bay is lauded as one of the most beautiful locations on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Everything that is Antarctica can be found here: steel-blue waters, giant glaciers, icebergs, gentoo penguins, crabeater seals, and whales.

 

 

Calving of the glacier

 

 

These two seals are both injured, not sure if they are exhausted from the fight or actually dead…

 

 

Weddell Seal

 

 

Weddell Seal

 

 

 

Weddell Seal

 

 

Passenger photographing the sunset as we leave Paradise Bay

 

 

Leaving Paradise Island

 

 

Spotted some ocras and the captain turned the ship around to follow them for a bit

 

 

Spotted some ocras and the captain turned the ship around to follow them for a bit

 

 

Ocra spotted

 

 

Ocra spotted

 

 

Leaving Paradise Island

 

 

Time to leave the Antarctic Peninsula 😢  From Paradise Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula, we sailed northeast towards Deception Island of the South Shetland Islands.  Stay tuned!

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