South Georgia
Today was a day of extreme contrasts. Nowhere on earth are polar contrasts more dramatic than on the Island of South Georgia. This morning we watched in awe as the National Geographic Endeavour nimbly made her way up into Drygalski Fjord where the brilliant blue sky meets precipitously hanging glaciers, the sheer weight of ice has sliced out channels of life. Wildlife literally pops out of the deep freeze on the southern end of the island, a place where Captain Cook was perhaps most disappointed.
On our Zodiac cruise into Larsen Harbor (an off shoot of the larger Drygalski Fjord) we found a bay where one of the most southerly seals in the world (the Weddell) breeds on ice. Minutes before our arrival the frozen platform broken up and everything from pintail ducks to giant kelp immediately began to take over.
Later in the day some new faces were seen in Cooper Bay. Some of us hiked up to see the first arrivals of the Macaroni penguins, while others headed into the expansive back bay. Elephant seals again crowded the beaches, as gentoo penguins clambered through the frenetic maze of mothers, pups and beach masters. Light-mantled sooty albatross soared overhead and giant petrels patrolled the waters just offshore. Icebergs provided the backdrop while hundreds of penguins headed toward their respective breeding beaches. A mixture of sky and sea, wildlife and wildness, South Georgia is both beauty and beast.
Today was a day of extreme contrasts. Nowhere on earth are polar contrasts more dramatic than on the Island of South Georgia. This morning we watched in awe as the National Geographic Endeavour nimbly made her way up into Drygalski Fjord where the brilliant blue sky meets precipitously hanging glaciers, the sheer weight of ice has sliced out channels of life. Wildlife literally pops out of the deep freeze on the southern end of the island, a place where Captain Cook was perhaps most disappointed.
On our Zodiac cruise into Larsen Harbor (an off shoot of the larger Drygalski Fjord) we found a bay where one of the most southerly seals in the world (the Weddell) breeds on ice. Minutes before our arrival the frozen platform broken up and everything from pintail ducks to giant kelp immediately began to take over.
Later in the day some new faces were seen in Cooper Bay. Some of us hiked up to see the first arrivals of the Macaroni penguins, while others headed into the expansive back bay. Elephant seals again crowded the beaches, as gentoo penguins clambered through the frenetic maze of mothers, pups and beach masters. Light-mantled sooty albatross soared overhead and giant petrels patrolled the waters just offshore. Icebergs provided the backdrop while hundreds of penguins headed toward their respective breeding beaches. A mixture of sky and sea, wildlife and wildness, South Georgia is both beauty and beast.
