Wildlife
New Zealand Sea Lion
One of the world's rarest sea lions, found almost nowhere else on Earth. The Auckland and Campbell Islands hold most of its breeding population.
The New Zealand sea lion is endemic to New Zealand, and travellers on subantarctic voyages have a real chance of walking past one hauled out on a beach in the Auckland Islands or Campbell Island, which remain its primary breeding grounds. With a total population of around 12,000, it is one of the rarest sea lion species on the planet, and the only living member of its genus, Phocarctos.
Māori names for the animal reflect how long it has been part of the region's story: pakake for either sex, whakahao for males, and kake for females. In recent years small numbers have begun recolonising the coasts of New Zealand's South and Stewart Islands, but the Auckland and Campbell Islands are still where expedition passengers are most likely to see them in numbers, often lying up on tussock-backed beaches within sight of the landing zodiacs.
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More highlights
Activity
Mountaineering & ski touring
Mountaineering and ski touring take small groups off the ship onto Antarctic slopes and ridgelines, roped up or on skins, away from the usual landing sites. It trades the zodiac cruise for a slower, physical read of the same white terrain.
Activity
Camping
Camping on the Antarctic continent means sleeping in a bivy bag directly on the snow, under a sky that rarely goes fully dark in summer. It runs on select nights when conditions allow, with places limited by each ship's shore permit.
Wildlife
Gentoo Penguin
A stocky, orange-billed penguin of the genus Pygoscelis, closest kin to the Adélie and Chinstrap. Its loud, trumpeting call, delivered with head thrown back, carries across the shoreline colonies where expedition landings are made.