• Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    Welcome to the landing beach at St Andrews Bay — SGI.
    Heading off to visit the main colony — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Fur Seal — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Steve, one of the lead dive guides, helps Mui across the fast-flowing creek — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Skua checking out the pole that marks our path to the colony — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Skua — St Andrews Bay, SGI.King penguins ... on our way to the main colony — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Molted penguin feathers ... this is an annual occurrence for penguins — St Andrews Bay, SGI.WOW! The world's biggest king penguin colony — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Selfie time ... world's biggest king penguin colony — St Andrews Bay, SGI.One of the glaciers that once reached all the way to the sea — St Andrews Bay, SGI.2King penguins generally keep a flipper distance from each other — St Andrews Bay, SGI.2King penguins on the ridge above the main colony — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Most of the chicks have molted, but there are still some in their brown baby coats — St Andrews Bay.This chick is hoping the adult will feed it — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Mariners of old called the king penguin chicks Oakum Boys — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Giant petrel fishing out a fur seal carcass — St Andrews Bay, SGI.King penguins and Ortelius — St Andrews Bay, SGI.2On the way back, some of us crossed the creek as a group — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Skua in B&W — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Our landing beach is being used by king penguins coming back from the sea — St Andrews Bay, SGI.Zodiac cruise along the beach that fronts the king penguin colony — St Andrews Bay, SGI.

    RWSE Day 6: St Andrews Bay Landing

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

    St Andrews Bay is more of a bight than a bay. Though it was named in the early 20th century, it is believed that Captain James Cook’s 1775 expedition was the first to sight this scenic bay … rimmed with mountains and glaciers.

    The bay is wide … and open to the elements. So much so that landings here are very much at the mercy of Mother Nature … as we found out in 2007 … when a strong katabatic wind came out of nowhere and we found ourselves “all layered up with nowhere to go.”

    Today, Mother Nature gave us permission to land at the world’s largest king penguin colony … at present 150,000 breeding pairs + chicks + solos. In addition, there are fur and elephant seals, giant petrels, skuas, and a number of other birds here.

    Since the beach that fronts the colony has been taken over by the penguins, we landed at a smaller beach where the surf was more conducive to a wet landing. Then, following the red poles along the inland side of the beach, we began our hike to a ridge that overlooks the main king penguin colony. Of course, there were stops along the way to take photos and shoo off fur seals that wanted to show off.

    Then came a fast-flowing melt-water creek. The water wasn’t particularly deep, but the current was very strong. The two lead dive guides helped us negotiate the creek, and soon, we were hiking up tussac-covered hills … not the easiest feat with the bulky muck boots on our feet. But the sight of over 300,000 penguins all gathered in one place was most definitely worth the effort. What a spectacular place!

    The last zodiac back to the ship was at 7:30p … giving us three hours to explore the site. We were told, however, that anyone who returned to the landing beach before 7:00p would be able to go on a zodiac cruise along the front edge of the colony. So, we timed our return accordingly. A different perspective of the world’s biggest king penguin colony and a fantastic wrap up to our day!    Read more