Reset search
Satellite
Search this area

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    2
    Day 18

    RWSE Day 9: Wrapping Up

    February 19 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F

    By 5:00p we were back on Ortelius.

    Having cruised in icy-cold waters for 2.5 hours, our first priority was a hot shower. But an ‘iceberg gift’ from Mother Nature put that thought on hold for a bit. It was worth it! A brilliant white berg with wavy stripes of aqua, turquoise, and teal running through it … formed more than likely by ancient, compressed ice and meltwater re-freezing. There was a bonus to going out on deck to see the striped berg … a tabular iceberg beautifully showcased by the brightening skies.

    Once Ortelius passed the icebergs, we had just enough time to take our hot showers and head up to the lounge for the daily recap … a cup of hot chocolate in hand for good measure.

    We now have 810 NM (932 miles/1,500 km) to go to reach Neuschwabenland on the Antarctic continent. EL Sara explained that we need a minimum of 3 days to cover that distance … assuming we can maintain a steady speed of 11 knots. The good news is that there seems to be a channel of good weather — both wind and sea — that just might allow us to do so.

    Earlier in the expedition, a ‘question box’ was placed in the lounge. The idea is for us to put any questions we might have about the expedition or the ship in the box. Expedition team members then answer those questions during the recap … the briefing tidbits, if you will. Today’s question was about icebergs — which ones are tracked by the US National Ice Center and how are the tracked bergs named. Matilda, our Earth Science lecturer, had the answer.

    In order to qualify for tracking, an iceberg must be at least 1900m (~ 1.2 miles) long on one side. She explained that these giant bergs are named according to the quadrant in which they are born … A, B, C, and D … bergs that calve off an ice shelf in that quadrant get the alpha designation accordingly … the number that follows is just sequential … and if that berg breaks up and the pieces are large enough to be tracked, the largest gets a lower case a … the smaller gets a lower case b, etc.

    Clara wrapped up the recap by announcing the plankton workshops that she and Chloé will be conducting with water samples collected on this expedition. The 10 slots for tomorrow’s workshop are already filled. Tennessee will continue his sextant and navigation workshops as well.

    Between the lectures and the workshops, and spending time on deck, the sea days ahead will pass in the blink of an eye.

    Time Change #2: Tonight we regain the hour we lost before arriving in South Georgia. To give us extra sleeping time, this gain will happen at midnight. Technically, there should have been other time changes, but being in such a remote location, the only time we need to follow is the one on the ship. So, we will be staying on Argentine time for the remainder of the voyage.    Read more

  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    1
    5
    Day 18

    RWSE Day 9: No Sunrise @ Saunders … But

    February 19 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ 🌬 32 °F

    “Traveling — it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” ~~ Ian Battuta ~~ (from the Daily Program)

    The alarm went off at 4:00a! Ugh.

    I rose up on my knees in bed and looked out the window. It was immediately obvious that there would be no colorful sunrise … no chance of seeing the glow of Mt Michael’s lava lake.

    I was tempted to go back to sleep. But I was awake anyway. And there was convenient open deck space aft of our cabin. So, I threw the parka over my pj’s, slipped on closed-toed clogs, and went out to take a peek at the third largest island in the South Sandwich Islands … and one of eight discovered by Captain Cook during his 1775 expedition.

    Even as I was opening the watertight door on the starboard side, Sara announced that there was a blue iceberg on the port side. I hurried over there instead. What a beautiful sight … even in the dull light.

    A few clicks of the shutter and I crossed back over to the starboard side to see what I could of Saunders Island … which wasn’t much. The clouds were low and thick. There was no sign of the huge plume of steam that someone managed to photograph at 3:50a! It must have blended right into the cloud deck.

    At least there was a bit of color on the port side. So, after a few shutter clicks of the island, I went back over to check out the blue berg. Sculpted by battering seas and howling winds, the iceberg was now close enough to see the translucence of the blue-green ice.

    On that note, I went back to bed until Sara came on the P/A @ 7:45a with the daily wake up call!    Read more

  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    1
    1
    Day 16

    RWSE Day 7: Gold Harbour Landing

    February 17 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ☁️ 37 °F

    SGI’s Gold Harbour was known by several names, but the one that stuck — and the one by which we know it today — was the one used by whalers and sealers. Why did they so name this small bay? Not because gold was mined here. Rather because the rising sun bathes Bertrab Glacier in a golden hue. We’ve not had the privilege of seeing that happen, but I like the history behind the name.

    Our days on an expedition generally start early. Today started even earlier … by 8:00a, we were already ashore, receiving our briefing for the landing.

    Remember how I wrote in the previous footprint that we landed here in 2007, too? Well, true enough. Except that this time we landed on the far side of the beach … further from the glacier streaming down the mountainside … but closer to the king penguin breeding colony that is said to be 50,000 strong. The first time around, we visited the penguins around a lake. This time, we actually got to visit the colony.

    This penguin colony ranges from the tussock grass at the foothills of the mountains all the way to the edge of the beach. We had to cross the beach and follow the path laid out amongst the tussac grass to a slightly elevated area overlooking the colony. Sounds easy, right? Except that the grass at times was over five-feet tall … which means that in many places I could barely see over the clumps. And underfoot it was muddy and slippery.

    But that was the easy part as it turns out! On the beach, we had to dodge curious penguins that seemed bound and determined to check us out … often making it difficult to maintain the 5m requirement set by IAATO. Then there were the fur seals wanting to challenge us; elephant seals that were sleeping in a pile … some of the young males play-fighting to sharpen their skills so they can one day become beach masters. And let’s not forget the king penguins at the edge of the colony, screeching and pecking at skuas that were getting too close to their eggs and young chicks. All very distracting … all providing wonderful photo ops.

    Our landing was fantastic. All the more so because we were lucky to be able to land here at all. EL Sara later told us that Gold Harbour was so badly hit by avian flu that it was a mass-casualty site … to the extent that last year they weren’t even allowed to zodiac-cruise along the beachfront if the wind was blowing from the land toward the sea! So glad that avian flu no longer has such a terrible hold on this amazing site … though the epidemic is far from over.    Read more

  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    222
    Day 15

    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

  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    21
    Day 15

    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

  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    1
    Day 15

    RWSE Day 6: Grytviken … Whaling Station

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

    As I previously mentioned, South Georgia Island was a hub of the whaling industry. During that time, 175,000+ whales were hunted and processed at several whaling stations along the coastline.

    Established in 1904 by Carl Anton Larsen, Grytviken was the site of the first permanent whaling station on SGI. The whalers weren’t the first to work out of here, however. During the 19th century, sealers operated from Grytviken … which, in Swedish, means Pot Bay … a reference to the old try-pots found here that were used to render oil from blubber.

    Historic records indicate that during the course of the 60 years that the Grytviken station operated, over 54,000 whales were processed here … one of them a nearly 112-foot long blue whale that was caught in 1912 … the largest on record.

    The station ruins at Grytviken were cleaned up between 2005-2007. Once the hazardous materials were removed, visitors were welcomed. That timing makes us one of the first to visit the station when we made a landing here in January 2007.

    Today, we came ashore on a beach near the rusty hulls of the Dias and Albatros … both having served here first as whalers and later as sealers. As we wandered around the ruins of the station, making our way to the cemetery, we recognized several station artifacts from our previous visit. Others were new-to-us … perhaps because our attention in 2007 had been captured by the critters. The rusted out condition of the artifacts, however, signaled that they had been here for quite some time and born the brunt of the storms that batter SGI on a regular basis.

    The cemetery is one of the must-visit sites in Grytviken. On the outskirts of the former station, it is here that Shackleton was interred after his death in 1922 … on his last Antarctic quest … he did not make it beyond SGI that time. He was buried here at the request of his wife.

    In 2007, we toasted the ‘Boss’ with vodka … we were on a Russian ship after all. This time the toast was made with whiskey, and Tennessee, our expedition historian and a Shackleton buff, read a passage honoring the life of the explorer.

    Another must-visit site is the church, which is located behind the whaling station … near the foothills of the jagged mountains. Constructed by the Norwegians in 1913, it was pre-fabricated in Norway and erected by the whalers here in Grytviken. Our timing was perfect as we got to hear Carolyn, a fellow-passenger, singing in the church. In addition to being a place of worship, the church was at times used as a library, a movie theater, and a store.

    By the time we walked out of the church, it was time to make our way to the landing beach … the last zodiac back to the ship was about to leave.    Read more

  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    4
    Day 15

    RWSE Day 6: Grytviken … SG Museum

    February 16 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ 🌧 37 °F

    We received a 100% rating!

    The effort put in by the passengers, the expedition team, and the ships’ crew and staff to comply with SGI’s biosecurity measures paid off. With zero infractions, we received the stamp of approval and a letter authorizing us to go ashore not just at Grytviken, but at other SGI landing sites as well. Two thumbs up!

    Ferried ashore by zodiacs, we had a number of things that we could do in Grytviken. When we visited in 2007, we were so enamored of the wildlife that we did not have time to pay much attention to either the museum or the station itself. Our goal this time was to reverse what we did last time and head to the museum first.

    The South Georgia Museum, housed in what was once the villa of the manager of the Grytviken whaling station, opened in 1992. There is also a post office, but we had no need to go there, so we skipped it.

    At the museum, we wandered around the exhibits about the history of the island — before, during, and after the whaling period; checked out some of the taxidermied species … of which the albatross that died from natural causes on Bird Island is probably the most popular; read about life here when it was a hamlet; and refreshed our memory with respect to Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s connection to the island … not the least of which is the fact that he is buried here in Grytviken.

    Entirely new to us this time was an adjunct building in which we found a replica of the James Caird, the small boat that was taken off Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, before it was crushed in the ice. The boat played an important role in the Endurance saga … carrying Shackleton and five other men some 800 miles across the Southern Ocean to then mount the rescue of the men left on Elephant Island.

    (If you are not familiar with all this about Shackleton and Endurance … I have a slide show of sorts from our 2007 visit at this link … https://eenusa.smugmug.com/Antarctica/Falklands…).

    A quick wander amongst the whaling artifacts on the lawn was next … from try-pots used to render oil from blubber obtained from seals to a steam-driven bone saw … amongst which fur seals played. Then we headed off to explore the ruins of the old whaling station. More on that in the next footprint.    Read more

  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    Day 15

    RWSE Day 6: Grytviken … Heritage Trust

    February 16 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ 🌧 37 °F

    “Human effort is not futile, but man fights against the giant force of nature in a spirit of humility.” ~~ Sir Ernest Shackleton ~~ (from the Daily Program)

    We arrived at our anchorage in Cumberland Bay during breakfast. Grytviken — once a whaling station and now the government seat, if you will, for the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands — was off in the distance. The morning was misty. Snow was spitting. Those conditions, however, would be changing soon enough.

    While the Captain and our Expedition Leader [EL] Sara dealt with the formalities that would allow us to go ashore, we gathered in the bar for a presentation by a member of the South Georgia Heritage Trust.

    The mission of the Trust is twofold … as described on its website …

    “ To help efforts to conserve and protect those species of indigenous fauna and flora that breed and grow on South Georgia or in the surrounding seas and to raise awareness of South Georgia’s threatened species;

    * To assist efforts to preserve the historical heritage of South Georgia, including selected historical sites of importance, and increase international awareness of the human history of the island through the South Georgia Museum.”

    An interesting glimpse into projects — past, present, and future — in which the Trust is involved.    Read more

  • Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    2
    Day 14

    RWSE Day 5: Right Whale Bay Landing

    February 15 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F

    South Georgia Island has a long — but thankfully no longer active — whaling history. In fact, the bay where we made our landing today is named after the Southern Right Whale. Right, not for the direction (as in left or right). Rather, right in the sense of being the best type of whale to go after as this species swims slowly, and when killed, floats on the water … thus making them easy to hunt and process.

    But our wet landing at a black sand and pebble beach today had nothing to do with that sad chapter in SGIs history … and everything to do with a king penguin colony that is estimated as having 25,000 breeding pairs … as well as fur seals, elephant seals, skuas, giant petrels, and even some gentoo penguins.

    The Right Whale Bay of today is a picturesque and ecologically significant site. We managed not to get too distracted by the penguins and seals on the beach and hiked up a tussac-covered hill to a ridge that gave us an expansive view of the main colony before going down for a closer look … always cognizant of keeping the 5m distance from wildlife that is mandated by IAATO. Not so easy to do, I might add, when you have naturally curious penguins wanting to get a closer look at us and playful fur seals wanting to practice their attack skills by charging us.    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctic Adventures
    1
    1111
    Day 20

    King Penguins!!!!!!

    February 8 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

    This has been the moment many of us (especially Lindsay) have been waiting for - Walking among the Kings! What a morning it was. With the change of schedule due to nearby storm, we will be leaving South Georgia Islands today at 4:00 p.m., so the expeditions were dependant on getting ashore with difficult break landings if possible. The Captain and expedition teams did a super job of finding an ideal spot this morning on Salisbury Plains, home to massive King Penguin colonies. The landing was terrific. As we stepped off the zodiac right into pools of penguins and onto shore to stand and walk among them, we were all laughing and chittering like our welcome committee.

    The biosecurity rules state humans need to keep 5 meters away from the wildlife. Apparently, no one has told the Kings! We were often within touching distance and we had to back away from them. I have just about worn out my thesaurus to find words that can possibly describe these adventures we have experienced. Standing today on the beach with the raw beauty of the landscape, the fresh smell of ocean (and not so fresh smell of penguins), the sight and sounds of wildlife had me gobsmacked!

    After lunch today, we headed back out in the zodiac for a zodiac tour. The driver had us troll the length of this part of the beach passing 10s of thousands of King Penguins. The beach stretches over a mile long and is 10-20 deep in penguins, then they stretch back into the plains and up the mountainside. Once again, my iphone pictures can’t accurately represent what I saw. I am hoping the long lense photographers will supply some photos that will do it more justice. There are 120,000 King Penguin pairs at the height of the season here in Salisbury Plains. I don’t know how many were there this afternoon, but the sheer numbers took my breath away.    Read more

Join us:

FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice