For the third time in as many years, Oceanwide Expeditions has achieved helicopter landings at Snow Hill Island in the Antarctic so that passengers can experience its rarely visited emperor penguin colony.
In the years immediately preceding 2017, inclement weather prevented Oceanwide from landing on the island with helicopters staged aboard m/v Ortelius.
Located in a cold cluster of Weddell Sea islands east of the Antarctic Peninsula, Snow Hill is almost always ice-locked, precluding landings even by the most advanced ice-strengthened expedition vessels.
But in 2017, 2018, and now in 2019, Oceanwide succeeded in flying to the island, whose famous emperor penguin colony has delivered some of the company’s most endearing photos in recent years.
It’s not too late to secure a berth on the 2020 Weddell Sea voyage, a polar adventure that includes visiting glacial shores and lively penguin rookeries of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Read a blog about the 2019 landing by assistant expedition leader Pippa Low here.
