Half Moon Island, a small island in Antarctica, is a place of breathtaking natural beauty and wildlife. This tiny island is home to thousands of penguins, including the chinstrap, gentoo, and Adélie penguins. Visitors can watch the penguins waddle, slide, and swim in the icy water. The island is also home to other wildlife, including seals and various bird species. Half Moon Island is a popular stop for tourists on Antarctic cruises, who can enjoy the stunning scenery and take part in activities such as kayaking and hiking.
This crescent-shaped island lies at the entrance to Moon Bay, between Livingston and Greenwich Islands. It’s one of the initial stops on a cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula via the South Shetland Islands. It is often passengers’ first sighting of Weddell and Elephant seals, as well as Gentoo penguins along the shore and a large Chinstrap penguin colony (with approximately 3,300 breeding pairs) further up the hill. Here you won’t step foot on the Continent proper, instead, you’ll probably have to wait to arrive at Neko Harbour further down the western coast of the Peninsula or Brown Bluff an extinct volcano on the eastern side of the Peninsula.
Half Moon Island is around 1.2 miles long and home to breeding Antarctic terns, skuas, kelp gulls, Wilson’s storm-petrels, and blue-eyed shags. It’s also home to the Argentine Cámara Station located on the southwest side of the island. Find out more about visiting Half Moon Island on an Antarctic Cruise
Antarctica’s Half Moon Island, one of the South Shetland Islands, is located in McFarlane Strait. It is the site of Argentine research station Cámara Base. During our landings on Half Moon Island, we might see Weddell seals, chinstrap penguins, and other Antarctic wildlife. Designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International, Half Moon Island is known for its breeding colony of south polar skuas. But many other birds breed there: imperial shags, cape petrels, snowy sheathbills, brown skuas, Wilson’s petrels (and storm petrels), Antarctic terns, and kelp gulls, along with the aforementioned chinstrap penguins.
