Today we shared an authentic moment with one another that will be disseminated to our network of friends and family for years to come. There is no wi-fi on the hillside at St. Andrew’s Bay, but there’s plenty of connectivity. In a world where sharing and liking has become more superficial and instantaneous than ever before, there were more than 200,000 king penguins forcing us to stop and take inventory of ourselves.
Standing above the colony there’s a chaos to the surrounding scene that must first be entirely absorbed before any understanding can be realized. Stare at one penguin and we get lost in the futility of finding a mate or a chick. We are not wired to find the solution to this problem of perceived homogeneity so we project stress onto what we see as a hopeless endeavor. Yet, let the focus go from your eyes and the scene plays out as a giant concert of penguins, predators, scavengers, winners, and losers moving as one with the pulse of season and the pull of tides. Although the complex world before us may seem beyond the scope of explanation, it still happens and has happened for thousands of years regardless of our understanding. That is a truly beautiful thing. The penguins will continue to be, but we are forever changed.
It hasn’t always been this way on South Georgia. Our visit to the old whaling station and current museum at Grytviken stands in stark contrast to our wildlife encounters. Overlooked by the grave of Ernest Shackleton, the rusting hulks of whaling ships and processing plants serve as an honest reminder of human determination and ingenuity, however negative the impact. While diving underneath the decrepit dock at Grytviken, Erin and I found a large, 10-foot-wide skull of a large baleen whale butchered for past financial gains. It was a different time. The wildlife of South Georgia was nearly decimated and in some cases is still at lower-than-natural levels. We were fortunate enough to see a Southern right whale today which is very slowly recovering after a century of heavy whaling pressures. Yet over time the word has gotten out and with our incredible visit of this sub-Antarctic jewel, our stories will help share the mystique and story of South Georgia. With the renewed and rejuvenated efforts of the South Georgia Heritage Trust’s work, the island and its unique wildlife will only get better with time.
We will look back at our photos, watch our videos and listen to the audio. We will be transported back to the overlook, standing as flies on a wall to the battle between life and death on the valley floor below. Through our memories we’ll be transported back to a time when our minds failed to comprehend the world. Although the penguins will never know that the insignificant orange smudges on the skyline were staring down at them in awe, it still happened. When questions outnumber answers, that is the essence of expedition travel.
