Stranded passengers fly from ship to see emperor penguins

The passengers stranded in Antarctic pack ice on board the expedition ship Kapitan Khlebnikov have been flown by helicopter to visit the emperor penguin rookery (above) on Snow Hill Island, which was to be the highlight of their voyage.
Wildlife guide Paul Goldstein, who went with them, said today: “I have just enjoyed breakfast with some of the exhibition passengers, still thrilled about their adventures over the past few days. They are safe, a little frustrated that ice and weather conditions have delayed their return, but all philosophical about their late arrival into Ushuaia.
“This is an expedition, it’s a voyage – taking a trip to Snow Hill is the purest, most amazing wildlife experience you can get. It really shows how powerful nature and its landscape can be.”
Exodus Travels, who booked some of the 51 British passengers on board the Kapitan Khlebnikov (operated by sister company Quark Expeditions), say the Russian-built icebreaker is the only ship in the world able to navigate to this amazing bird colony – ironic in this case, as the weather conditions prevented it from getting closer than four miles south-west of the island.
Rob Dixon of Exodus says: “They’re definitely going to be delayed returning to Ushuaia, but life on board is pretty civilised. It’s great news that all the passengers have now been able to visit Snow Hill Island.”
The company is working on rebooking and rescheduling flights to bring the passengers home when they eventually reach Ushuaia.
Among those on board are TV presenter Jonathan Scott of Big Cat Diary, and a BBC crew filming for BBC documentary series The Frozen Planet.
Click here to watch a video of the emperor penguins on Snow Hill Island.