St Andrews Bay

If there is one iconic site in South Georgia this is it thanks to David Attenborough. The footage of him walking along the beach in front of a glacier surrounded by one of the largest King Penguin rookeries in the world is well known. So to wake up anchored off the shore and to see a 3-4 km long foreshore, with a backdrop of three glaciers feeding down from the mountains, packed with King Penguins plus fur and elephant seals, was an exciting and awe inspiring prospect. We saw some male fur seals for the first time here - significantly bigger but surprisingly less aggressive than the pups! At the peak of the season there are up top 150,000 nesting couples of King Penguins here. We were lucky to be able to land and walk to the high vantage point overlooking the main colony - some crew members had been here on three prior occasions and had never been able to reach the lookout for various reasons such as avian flu outbreaks, a flooded river blocking access etc. It is impossible to convey the enormity of the scenery and the sheer mass of wildlife everywhere you looked and walked - weaving in around seals and petrels, penguins waddling at you as you keep ogling the snowy mountains rising from sea level wrapped around glacial flows. The video shows the breadth of the rookery probably better than the pictures. A morning not to be forgotten.Read more