The glacier in the distance still terminates at the edge of the water — St Andrews Bay, SGI.

The potential for calvings at the terminus means this part of the colony is off-limits to us.

King penguins at the terminus of the glacier — St Andrews Bay, SGI.

We are hoping to hike to the ridge (right) to look down over the main king penguin colony.

The main colony ... too many penguins on this beach, so we will land on another beach — St Andrews.

Another view of the main colony ... from the ship — St Andrews Bay, SGI.

A patch of blue gives us hope that the skies will be clearing — St Andrews Bay, SGI.

Ortelius from the zodiac — St Andrews Bay, SGI.

RWSE Day 6: Ahoy … St Andrews Bay

February 16 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F

Ortelius made good time while we were at the daily recap, and arrived at its anchorage in St Andrews Bay around 3:00p.

The expedition team went into action immediately, setting off in the zodiacs to do their usual recon of the landing site … ensuring the landing beach was not crowded with wildlife; setting up a path for us to follow to the main colony; checking for evidence of avian flu.

While they were doing their thing, we got into our ‘landing layers’ … including our muck boots, parkas, and zodiac life vests. Then, we went on deck … not only so we didn’t overheat while we waited for the zodiac ops to begin, but also to see what we could see of the world’s largest king penguin colony.Read more