Day 8 - Zodiac Landing: Neko Harbor, Portal Point

- November 26, 2022

Neko Harbor, Portal Point

Neko Harbour is an inlet of the Antarctic Peninsula on Andvord Bay, situated on the west coast of Graham Land.

Neko Harbour was discovered by Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache during the early 20th century. It was named for a Scottish whaling boat, the Neko, which operated in the area between 1911 and 1924.

Captain Fliess Refuge is an Argentine refuge in Antarctica located in Neko Harbour in the Andvord Bay on the Danco Coast, west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The refuge was opened on April 4, 1949 and it is managed by the Argentine Navy. It was inaugurated together with the Penguin Observatory and the Rescue Station under the name of Refugio Neko. His name pays tribute to the Lieutenant of the ship Felipe Fliess of the Corvette Uruguay who rescued the Swedish Antarctic Expedition headed by Otto Nordenskjöld.

It has been enabled and supplied by the icebreaker ARA Almirante Irízar and the ship ARA Bahía Aguirre in various Antarctic campaigns. The refuge was destroyed by a storm in 2009, was then rebuilt in 2011 during the 2011-2012 Antarctic summer campaign. Maintenance, repair, and conservation of facilities were carried out to be used as support for scientific research.

Neko Harbour has been classified as an important bird and biodiversity area by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of more than 250 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins that nest on the hill near the beach to avoid risk of being washed away by the large waves frequently generated from the calving of the nearby glacier. Southern giant petrels and south polar skuas also nest here. The area has been also used by Weddell seals, which frequently haul out to rest.

More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neko_Harbour

More overnight snow

We were amazed at seeing penguins swimming in schools AND porpusing!

This is a Special Operations Boat (SOB!). Holds 12-14 passengers, has twin 440 HP engines propelling water jet pumps, turns on a dime at 30+ MPH.

This afternoon we chose to take a ride in an SOB

A large door opened on the stern (back) of the ship and extended a rollered ramp to the SOBs to go between the inside of the ship to the sea. The center wheels are driven by hydraulics to walk the SOB up and down the ramp.