South Georgia
More delights from South Georgia! Early morning, before most of us had opened our eyes, the RopeCam (RC) was picked up from the very deep deployment of 1340 meters in the Southern Ocean. This time, the camera caught the big fish! Somewhere in the night, a large Patagonian toothfish came up to the bait.
Right after breakfast we steamed into the Bay of Isles and it was time to board our Zodiac fleet for a new highlight: a visit to Prion Island. This is the home for many breeding wandering albatross. The beach and cliffs, nearby the landing, were scattered with a large number of South Georgia terns, shags, and of course, fur seals. Still as we sat on the beach, two real South Georgia specialties showed up: the “mighty” pipit, the only passerine bird in Antarctica, and also the South Georgia pintail duck. Both are unique to be the only representatives for each group of birds below the Convergence.
Our aim was still something much larger, and after some hardship up through the muddy tussock grass, along a small stream, we were suddenly standing beside giants: several incubating wandering albatross. This bird roams the ocean and is hard to see on land as they only breed on very remote sub-Antarctic islands. The incubating birds were not showing much activity sitting on eggs. Still, some youngsters in the state of building pair formation were very active with gamming, a courtship and displaying ritual the whole range of albatross’ outfit. This is really a dance to enjoy. Just as we were about to depart from the albatross colony, we could see a distant blow. It was a southern right whale cruising nearby the island.
Traveling down south is always a challenge and, as always, we had a plan for the afternoon, but a large swell forced us to move to plan B - a visit to the most westerly part of South Georgia, Elsehul. This sheltered bay is really the condensed version of the island South Georgia when it comes to wildlife. It has become the stronghold for the mainland fur seal population; large male elephant seals are found on the beaches molting, as well as three different penguins, including the hardy rock climbing Macaroni. To top it off, here you encounter all four breeding albatross for South Georgia, black-browed, gray-headed, wandering, and the light-mantled sooty.
For the first time ever with Endeavour, we were able to offer a landing deep inside the bay. Usually the large numbers of fur seals makes this event impossible. On the beach we found remains from early sealers. The most keen and devoted birders made it up to the top through the mud, and the reward was nesting gray-headed albatross. The non-hikers enjoyed the wildlife amphitheater from a Zodiac with the water around them boiling with fur seal pups. At 7 o’clock it was time to set the heading 282o, and now we only have about 750 nautical miles (about 60 hours) ahead of us to Stanley, Falkland Islands. South Georgia is a distant location, isolated, but truly PARADISE and we will be back!
More delights from South Georgia! Early morning, before most of us had opened our eyes, the RopeCam (RC) was picked up from the very deep deployment of 1340 meters in the Southern Ocean. This time, the camera caught the big fish! Somewhere in the night, a large Patagonian toothfish came up to the bait.
Right after breakfast we steamed into the Bay of Isles and it was time to board our Zodiac fleet for a new highlight: a visit to Prion Island. This is the home for many breeding wandering albatross. The beach and cliffs, nearby the landing, were scattered with a large number of South Georgia terns, shags, and of course, fur seals. Still as we sat on the beach, two real South Georgia specialties showed up: the “mighty” pipit, the only passerine bird in Antarctica, and also the South Georgia pintail duck. Both are unique to be the only representatives for each group of birds below the Convergence.
Our aim was still something much larger, and after some hardship up through the muddy tussock grass, along a small stream, we were suddenly standing beside giants: several incubating wandering albatross. This bird roams the ocean and is hard to see on land as they only breed on very remote sub-Antarctic islands. The incubating birds were not showing much activity sitting on eggs. Still, some youngsters in the state of building pair formation were very active with gamming, a courtship and displaying ritual the whole range of albatross’ outfit. This is really a dance to enjoy. Just as we were about to depart from the albatross colony, we could see a distant blow. It was a southern right whale cruising nearby the island.
Traveling down south is always a challenge and, as always, we had a plan for the afternoon, but a large swell forced us to move to plan B - a visit to the most westerly part of South Georgia, Elsehul. This sheltered bay is really the condensed version of the island South Georgia when it comes to wildlife. It has become the stronghold for the mainland fur seal population; large male elephant seals are found on the beaches molting, as well as three different penguins, including the hardy rock climbing Macaroni. To top it off, here you encounter all four breeding albatross for South Georgia, black-browed, gray-headed, wandering, and the light-mantled sooty.
For the first time ever with Endeavour, we were able to offer a landing deep inside the bay. Usually the large numbers of fur seals makes this event impossible. On the beach we found remains from early sealers. The most keen and devoted birders made it up to the top through the mud, and the reward was nesting gray-headed albatross. The non-hikers enjoyed the wildlife amphitheater from a Zodiac with the water around them boiling with fur seal pups. At 7 o’clock it was time to set the heading 282o, and now we only have about 750 nautical miles (about 60 hours) ahead of us to Stanley, Falkland Islands. South Georgia is a distant location, isolated, but truly PARADISE and we will be back!
