Departing Chinstraps

Pentax K-7, DA* 60-250/4

1/180s, f/5.6, ISO 200

Click image for larger version

The day after negotiating the icebergs around Elephant Island, we turned into the broad Bransfield Strait separating the South Shetland Islands from the Antarctic Peninsula. We made stops at the Aitcho Islands first, and then at Deception Island. The latter is an active volcano, its last eruption was in the ninteen-sixties. In the area affected by this eruption is a large chinstrap penguin colony. It's rarely accessible, though, because it involves landing on an extremely exposed beach. As you can probably guess from the above pic, there wasn't much of a swell at all; we were once again lucky with the weather to allow us the landing, even if the sky was a dull overcast and not fit for the most amazing shots. The experience mattered most. :-)