Fred's Logbook

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Date / Time: 2014-12-14 12:00:00Voyage from: to ETA:
Fred's foster-parent:
Name:National Geographic Explorer Crew
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Fred's vessel:
Vesselname:National Geographic Explorer
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Fred-Report:

14th of December 2014
Cuverville Island / Antarctica
64°41,4’S, 062°38,0’W

I went ashore in Antarctica today! We had anchored off Cuverville Island, which is located at the Errera Channel, off the west coast of Graham Land. The island was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Adrien de Gerlache, who named it for J.M.A Cavellier de Cuverville - a vice admiral of the French navy.







I had a super good time ashore! Cuverville Island is still covered with lots of snow. The expedition team had to dig some steps into the snow, in order for us to get off the beach and explore the island.



I went for a stroll to the Gentoo Penguin colony. The penguins are super friendly! They got so close and were walking right past me! Amazing!





I saw a broken egg on our path and a few Skuas were hanging out at the rookery.





Most of the Gentoos were sitting on their eggs and breeding. They make a funny sound when communicating, almost like donkeys.



Oh – and I saw a penguin highway! There are quite a few of them on Cuverville Island. A penguin highway is basically a path, which has been trampled into the snow by penguins. I was stunned to see that all the penguins really use that highway to walk on. Only when passing each other they sometimes step next to it.








I could have stayed ashore for hours, but we did have to make our way back to the landing site at some point… .






Photos

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