To the Icy Continent

It isn't surprising that on a cruise your step count falls but then you have a couple of days where you are walking and think you must have covered some distance. When you look however the step count is still quite low. That has been the case the last couple of days. I feel tired and have sore muscles because the walking has been quite challenging. Today's walk involved grassy slopes and crossing rocky streams flowing quite quickly. The backdrop is a snow capped mountain range and glaciers which glisten in the sun. Walking poles are essential for stability.

From our cabin we can look across to St. Andrews Bay. We can see on the beach white dots which are clearly penguins. As the zodiac lands the noise and the smell greet us first. The beach is a sea of King penguins intermingled with fur seals and giant petrels. Seal pups play in the water in groups, climbing on rocks, play fighting and body surfing onto the shore. The penguins are more focused on heading out to sea to feed.

We are extremely lucky with the weather at least for the next two days. The morning is bright and sunny and although it is 0° it feels much warmer, there is no wind. I think the prevailing view is that these are the best conditions most of the crew have ever experienced on South Georgia.

My initial reaction was a sense of disappointment when we landed, seeing 'just' a long beach covered in King penguins and fur seals, beautiful creatures not withstanding. Nothing particularly spectacular except for the amazing back drop of the mountain range, by the end of the walk I had changed my mind. We have almost two hours to explore and within reason we can go pretty much where we want to providing we are careful and keep a distance away from the wildlife.

It's noisy and quite smelly. The noises include penguins quietly talking to their mate which sounds almost like a purr, others screeching at each other. The seals make a noise like a croaky dog barking and the other birds are also calling. Sometimes the penguins are quite soft other times loud. Once we start walking, I realize how special this place is. It doesn't initially seem like it, but this is the largest King penguin colony in the world, over 150,000 pairs.

The seals and penguins are scattered across a wide area so we are constantly moving in and out and around them. The penguins are curious standing to watch us or coming up to check us out. The fur seals are barking loudly to alert any likely threat that they are there. These are young and just learning how to defend. It's fascinating to watch as they practice this on the penguins then on us. They first approach making a noise, moving surprisingly quickly. If we move quickly away or run, they will come after us looking threatening. On a number of occasions we are told we have a seal, which we haven't noticed, following us. The best approach seems to be to stand still and and if we don't move away and they continue to come towards us a walking pole works as a brilliant defense, staying still holding out the pole. This has an immediate effect and they slowly move back. Many of the seals and the penguins are making the most of the sunshine lying or standing on the grass rather than on the beach. One seal is lying on its back sensing I am nearby it gives a half-hearted growl and then goes back to sleep. Others come charging towards me to ward me off.

The penguins because they mate for life stand with their mate and possibly one of their chicks because there are many groups of three. Having the opportunity to just watch their interactions so closely means we have much more of an opportunity to observe their behavior. I watch one bird behind another hitting it with its wing. The wings are quite powerful and when that didn’t seem to work, the bird behind pecked the one in front. It was quite a show of aggression. The penguins will also make it very clear to the fur seals if they are unhappy with their presence and will chase and peck them, which I imagine is quite painful. Young fur seals learning important lessons.
All the animals, including the petrels sitting on the ground are unperturbed by our presence.

From the beach, the main walk of the morning was to a high vantage point which overlooks the beach and the wildlife scattered around a large area. King penguins and fur seals dominate but I did see one elephant seal. Giant petrels fly regularly over checking for weakened birds or seal pups. Petrels are the only predator of sea lions and then only the pups. From a high vantage point, you can really get a sense of how many penguins and seals there are and just how beautiful this place is. It is so special to be able to just stand there in the sunshine and watch and take it all in. There is very little variety of vegetation, low shubs some with something that looks like a maroon coloured flower, tuftsof a low grass and no trees.

Excursion timing alternate between French or English speakers. What that meant was yesterday we were first and had to be up and ready by 8:10 but this morning it was the French group that had to be ready by 7:30. It also meant however that in the afternoon we left at 4:45 and return to the ship at 6:00 p.m., not so great.

By the afternoon the weather had changed significantly, cloud now covered the mountains and it looked decidedly bleak and cold. It was not as cold as it looked and there was no wind so it was still a pleasant walk on the beach with the penguins. We were however much more restricted in where we could go. At one end of the beach was a large colony of King penguins moulting, penguin feathers covering the beach but we weren’t allowed anywhere near them, we weren't allowed near the elephant seals either. There was one King penguin with an egg but the guide said it was very unlikely that the chick would survive. Late hatchings rarely survive.

I didn’t take many pictures. I spent time looking at what was around. The beach had some very large elephant seals farting, belching and grunting, many young fur seals and a few Gentoo penguins. The Gentoos were particularly aggressive to the young seals one interaction involved a penguin screeching at a seal and gesturing that it was going to peck it. The seal clearly understood and despite the penguin being a fraction of it's size the seal backed away very quickly. The Gentoos are smaller than the king penguins, the third largest penguin. I watched a petrel defend its meal, a rotting carcass of possibly a long dead elephant seal. It raised its wings as a sign of aggression and moved towards the other bird which got the message. Their wingspan is impressive.

It was also a noisy place with the King penguins stretching their necks, beaks pointing to the sky and calling really loudly the Gentoos have a different call more of a honk and less musical to my ear. Adding to the cacophony were the seals barking as they play and the distinctive sounds of elephant seals. It's astounding when you watch how unperturbed the wildlife seem to be including petrels that I walked very close to.

Desserts are amazing, they are catering for me so well.Read more