Elephant Island is covered by mountains, glaciers and snow. No humans here, but there are penguins (gentoos and chinstraps) and some seals. The island is named after elephant seals (or its form, or both).
The island was found by the Brits and charted by the Russians. It is famous for providing shelter for Ernest Shackleton’s crew during the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, after their ship ’Endurance’ sank in the frozen Weddell Sea. Shackleton and two men set to fetch help from South Georgia in a small boat – a distance of over 1400 km. In these risk-averse days landing on the island is not done.
The island is 47 km long and mostly cloudy and windy, with summer temperatures averaging 1.5° C in the summer, and -5° C in the winter. Right now it is -2° C with a biting wind – it is hard to imagine spending months here waiting for uncertain rescue.
Icebergs float around and glaciers produce more of them – the freezing enviroment feels rather hostile.
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