It was an early morning as we woke up with the sun around 4 am. The expedition team was already preparing to jump into the zodiacs and scout the shoreline of Carcass Island, where we would make our first pre breakfast landing. The weather was on our side, with a light breeze and calm waters.
We landed on the beach, where we could already witness the vibrant wildlife of the Falkland Islands, from gentoo penguins nesting on the shore to upland geese moving through the tussock grass and Magellanic penguins hiding in their burrows. We made our way up the beach into the green plains that cover the tip of the island. With every step, a new angle revealed the abundance of birdlife, and as the sun pierced the horizon, the soft morning light made every photo unique.
On our way we were on the look out for the unfamous rare bird we can find on this island, the Cobb’s Wren which is an endemic bird of the Falkland and only survives on island with no land predation. Some of us saw two pairs in between the grass. Also, while we were walking, two colonies of Gentoo penguin were seen on the way and we could see the couples sitting on the eggs that will hatch in a near future.
The early morning went by quickly and after three hours of discovering this small piece of land, we had to head back to the ship for a well-deserved breakfast. It was our first activities since we stepped on the ship and well worth the early wake up. It showed us the potential of the Falkland islands wildlife and flora. We were even more excited to what the rest of the day will brought us. The level of noise in the dining room was a good clue of how much we appreciated this first activity.
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© Erik Edvardsson -
© Erik Edvardsson -
© Erik Edvardsson -
© Erik Edvardsson -
© Erik Edvardsson
