Hardwear Sessions

By Jon Bowermaster

Leopard Seal

We spent New Year's in the appropriately named Danger Islands (Darwin, Beagle & Heroina), the easternmost point on the Antarctic Peninsula. Wild and windy despite the blue sky, we attempted to land on Heroina but were thwarted by surf and the 600,000 nesting penguins who call it home. Just offshore we cruised through beautifully sculpted icebergs, resting spots for both penguins and birds as well as predators as well, especially the big, lounging leopard seals. In the heart of the Weddell Sea, in the midst of the Erebus and Terror Gulf, all around are huge icebergs broken off from the Larsen Ice Shelf. These are not soft, cuddly bergs but the big, tough, ship-sinking variety broken off the Larsen due to a decade of warming temperatures here along the Peninsula.