For The Love of Travel

Dynamic little Macaroni penguins have a colony at Hercules Bay on a tussock-covered slope above a rocky shoreline. Zodiac cruising  this morning to see their activity.  The name “Macaroni’ derives from the 18C englishmen dandies who made the grand tour of Italy and dyed their hair in streaks, with extended crests over their ears. On exploring Antartica, British sailors meeting the penguins christened them after this style.

Godthul (‘Goodbay’) is a 3 km long harbour between Cape George to the south and Long Point to the north. The head walls of a glacier form a natural cliff amphitheatre which surrounds the harbour.  More lovely little frolicking seal pups (the white one is rather rare and called a ‘blondie’) and a waterfall to behold, cascading from a 500m high mountain down a scree slope.  

“If you were to take a giant carving knife, slice along one of the highest mountain ridges in Switzerland, just where the huge glaciers tumble into the valley below, and then drop your slice of mountain, dripping with sugar icing, into the sea, I think you would get a fair idea of the place” (Niall Rankin, 1946).

South Georgia is cold, wet and windy. It forms part of the Scotia Arc, curving out from South America to the South Sandwich Islands and then back to the Antarctic Peninsula. Throughout the year, it sits below the convergence. in 1775, Captain Cook landed in Possession Bay and claimed the island for King George III. 

50 ships carrying 6,000 passengers visit annually. The UK Government, requires ship operators to be a part of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), and to adhere to rules which prevent any form of environmental impact or unacceptable wildlife observance. There are no permanent inhabitants but there are 3 government officers and museum staff in summer.

We spent the night at anchor in Gold Harbour, near the southern end of South Georgia. An early wake up call at 4.45am for zodiac crossings to the island to see the large King penguin colony, fur and elephant seals and light mantled sooty albatross. The backdrop of huge mountains and a tumbling Bertrab glacier make this a photographer’s paradise.  

The light from sunrise was beautiful this morning…the King penguins chests glistening a brilliant white in the rays of the sun. A bit of penguin porn at dawn as well (a pair was ‘breeding’). Seals were playing on land and in the water, penguins were swimming, elephant seals lumbering their huge torsos along the sandy beach. Baby seals would rush at us with brash enthusiasm and then take a leap back, thinking ooooh, “a little too close to that large strange thing”. An amazing amount of activity! We had 2 gorgeous hours with them.

St Andrew’s Bay is home to the largest King penguin colony on South Georgia, numbering over 100,00 pairs. It spans the length of the glacial river – but we didn’t get to visit because of the inhospitable weather/choppy sea. Not good for a zodiac landing. Ocean Harbour, a little bay further on, instead. Lots of seals and seal pups await us at a late landing of 16.45. An hour’s walk around and we are back on board. A night at anchor in Jason harbour, where we see the sister ship, Orion. 

A day of lectures on 25 Feb…..one of the lectures was about how krill is the linchpin of the Antarctic and Scotia Sea ocean ecosystem. Krill is the main food of Baleen whales (e.g. Killer, Humpback, Minke), fur seals, penguins. Krill is also eaten by many species of fish and squid, so even though some species of whale, seal and birds don’t eat krill themselves, they ultimately depend on krill, because they feed on krill-eating prey.

Rodolpho told us that the impact of trawling for krill has been huge – haulage has increased from 100,000 tons to 300,000 since 2005 ->over 50% goes to feed salmon being farmed (oil and meal) and the other 50% to the pharmaceutical industry for omega (krill oil) tablets.  The Commission for the Conservation of Antartic Marine Living Resources (The Krill Convention, CCAMLR) is working with the fishing/whaling communities to manage the ecosystem so that sufficient krill abundance for  predators and dependent species is available.    He’s written a paper for the Commission titled: “Unhappy feet: the 50% reduction of Adelie and Chinstrap penguins in the west of Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia sea during last 30 years in the South Shetland Islands” – with ecosystem management strategy suggestions.

On 26 Feb, our first sighting of South Georgia was around Paradise Bay, where we saw the extraordinary sight of tabular berg B17A, which calved off the Ross Ice Shelf 16 years ago, floating in the sea. Its some 7 miles long and wide!   

And as a special present to us, it calved in front of us, a huge part of the wall facing us, crashing into the sea. And I was ready to snap the ‘action’. Incredible power!!    

Then we rounded the corner of Cape Disappointment – named by Captain Cook after thought he had discovered the long sought-after Southern continent, until he turned the corner and found he was looking westwards towards the Willis Islands, and so had only discovered a long, narrow island. 

Our travel through the Drygalski fjord was very dramatic – howling wind, snowflakes falling while we sailed past towering dark chocolate brown mountains, glaciers either side of the fjord with waterfalls cascading down and finally the Risting glacier at the fjord’s end. The weather improved and we got some sun on the glacier before we left.  

A beautiful afternoon to take photos on deck – a panorama of landscape when we exited the fjord and entered Cooper Bay;  

an iceberg that looked like a frosted wedding cake in the sun;  

a collection of Storm Petrels ‘dancing’ on the surface of the water, dipping their feet while they seized small fish and crustaceans. The ‘dancing’ is a technique for saving energy while airborne. 

And a lovely group of penguins ‘porpoising’ through the water at the side of the ship’s bow.  Another amazing day!