OUR STORY
Cape Dension
Cape Denison: Life on the cape
Scattered across Cape Denison’s landscape are large boulder fields, deposited by glacial action, which carry colourful lichen – the cape’s only flora. Soil or sandy beaches are absent, but gravel and other coarse mineral particles can be found in various locations on the peninsula.
Cape Denison is habitat for six species of animal. In summer the cape comes alive with numerous Adélie penguin colonies (including one on the northern edge of Boat Harbour), three colonies of Wilson’s storm-petrel and one small colony of snow petrel. Around the penguin colonies are nests of South Polar skuas, which scavenge penguin eggs and chicks.
Seals are relatively scarce. Fewer than 20 Weddell seals, which spend the winter in Antarctic coastal waters, have been recorded in the area at any one time. No pups have been recorded. The gigantic southern elephant seal has been known to haul out and rest around the margins of Boat Harbour, but only in very small numbers, and no seals have been known to breed in the area. A seal spotted by the men of AAE tended to become food for both humans and dogs.
