South Georgia Day 3

At some ungodly hour during the night, the anchor was raised and we left Grytviken. Sleeping in one of the front cabins in the aft of the ship, as we were, meant the noise of the anchor movement, either up or down, was extremely loud and it woke us both up. The ship sailed towards St Andrews Bay whilst most of us on board were still sleeping. There was quite a bit of swell along the way and the chair in our cabin fell over. For the most part though, things didn't slide around or fall off the shelves, because the cabin was so well designed. There were either non slip mats on the shelves or a lip at the edge, and sometimes both. In fact, we were impressed with all these small little touches, especially the raised sides to our beds so we couldn't fall out when asleep.

The temperature in the morning was only 1°C. There was no wind, but unfortunately, the swell was too high for a landing in St Andrews Bay. We were gutted. This was not the news we wanted to wake up to. We had to switch to Plan B. This meant swapping our day around and heading back north to Godthul, which was actually only just around the corner (relatively speaking) from where we'd been the day before in Grytviken. We just had to hope and pray the swell would be less later on when we returned to St Andrews Bay.

GODTHUL

On our way to Godthul, we were happily distracted when we spotted some Orcas (Killer Whales). There seemed to be two swimming all over the place, clearly feeding. It was a mother and calf. It was virtually impossible to predict where they were going to emerge. One time, one appeared so close to the boat, but it was gone by the time I took a photo. Of the many times they swiftly but gently glided through the water at the surface, I was only able to get one semi-decent photo. At least there's a Cape Petrel and two Giant Petrels to help provide some scale.

We then proceeded onwards towards the bay and I was lucky to get a fairly nice photo of a King Penguin in the calm water. I love the reflection of its head. I think this might be a young one because the orange colour on the underside of its bill is a less vibrant orange.

The first landing was by about 9am. This was the adventurous group. They headed off first because they needed more time. They were walking up to one of the highest points in the bay. Bob and I opted for the less strenuous option to see the Gentoo penguin colonies and weren't ashore until just before 10am.

As was so often the case, when we first landed on the beach, we were greeted by a large number of Elephant Seals. This youngster was suckling from its mother.

Although we weren't doing the really tough ascent, it was certainly a challenge walking up to higher ground. The hill was quite steep and there were lots of tall grassy tussocks to work around. We took it slowly and carefully and eventually were on a less steep area. There was a fair amount of excitement amongst those closest to us, because we could hear and then see the South Georgia Pipit. It had been eluding us for the last two days and the keen birders in the group were getting a bit nervous they'd never see one. There were actually two, probably a pair. At first, they would fly off and only land some distance away, but gradually they came a bit closer, only to disappear low down in the dense long grasses, so they were virtually impossible to see and photograph. Then suddenly, one appeared not too far away and didn't fly off. We just had enough time to grab a photo. With a bit more patience (and a little time on our return walk as well) we were able to take some fairly nice photos of this lovely endemic bird species.

Bob and I were walking up to the higher of the two Gentoo Penguin populations without hardly anyone else in sight. The staggered landings help make that possible, but also, I suspect quite a few people stayed on the boat on account of the difficult walk.

During the morning, we saw more Brown Skuas and also several South Georgia Pintail. They'd now become such a regular sighting on our walks, it was no longer surprising. This encounter with the Pintail was my favourite because of them being on the snow.

There were two small colonies of Gentoos nesting close together. A smaller group higher up and a larger one lower down. The snow had melted around them and you could see several penguins were lying on their nests, presumably incubating eggs.

This one looks like it has the prime spot.

As I perused the group of penguins, I'd try and keep an eye open for any interesting or unusual behaviour. Sometimes, I'd spot some preening, or one of them would be vocalising. Their bright orange beaks are certainly very striking when they open wide.

I always enjoyed watching those that were waddling around the colony carrying nesting material in their beaks.

Although we'd seen lots of penguin activity by now and quite a lot of Gentoos, there's always something that would pique our interest. On this occasion, Bob spotted a pair of Gentoos mating. It was wonderful to see them interact with each other. It was a very touching moment. I did feel a bit bad that it wasn't exactly private!

There was a lovely view of our ship in the bay, the Plancius, from this higher vantage point.

ST ANDREWS BAY

Whilst we ate our lunch, the ship was sailed back to St Andrews Bay. The question on everyone's mind was still, Will we be able to land? Having already missed out on Salisbury Plain when we first reached South Georgia, our hopes now lay on this bay, which is considered the largest King Penguin colony with about 150,000 pairs. We'd lost precious time with all the extra sailing and time was ticking away. Around 2.30pm we were tantalisingly close to land. We waited anxiously to hear the news on a decision. The captain maneouvred the ship into a better position and in the end we were given the thumbs up. I think it was a rather dubious thumbs up, because getting on and off the zodiacs at the side of the ship was decidedly dicey. With the swell still moving up and down significantly, we had to time our step from the platform onto the zodiac with precision. They weren't always level. The zodiac would suddenly drop down much lower - too low - so we had to wait for the swell to raise it up again and then go for it.

There were more challenges ahead when we tried to go ashore. There were several large male Elephant Seals on the beach and in the water, right where we we wished to land. It wasn't a good time for them to be curious about us and come closer for an inspection. They weren't agressive towards us. We just had to be patient and wait for a good opportunity to head in. By this time, it was about 4pm, so much later than our usual landings. But, even so, we were given plenty of time to really savour being there.

Fairly soon after our arrival, we spotted two of the male Elephant Seals starting to size each other up. They'd raise up their bodies parrallel to each other, grunting and moaning. Then they started to get more aggressive as they slammed into each other, repeatedly. They don't appear to have massive teeth, but there are certainly a lot of scars around their head as a result of these bouts. Neither of these were the beachmaster (dominant male). They were just two youngsters practice fighting.

It will come as no surprise we saw A LOT of King Penguins. I was pleased to see there was still quite a bit of snow too.

There were several young Antarctic Fur Seals, including this one that was on the move. It looks like it's all quite a bit of an effort, with the two front flippers doing most of the work.

The fur seals, as with all sea lions, have small external ear flaps, which you can see below. True Seals lack these ear flaps. It's just one of the main ways you can tell the difference between them.

It was really lovely watching some of the youngsters playing fighting together quite close to us.

As always, we were instructed to follow the red markers that had been planted along a safe route for us to walk. Staff members kept an eye out for any encroaching wildlife which might have necessitated moving a marker. It was worth keeping an eye open in all directions, even behind you, as we were often being followed.

There were lots of mature adults, but amongst them there were also juveniles moulting. There were feathers on the ground virtually everywhere!

One of my favourite sections was when we reached the river and saw large numbers of King Penguins lining the edge of it. I was trying to find a way to capture the moment and then I suddenly spotted one penguin stoop down and take a drink of water.

After crossing the river we continued to walk upwards to a high point on the beach. From there we could see the end of a glacier in the distance and the proglacial lake in front of it, where the glacier has retreated. There was a lot of debris on the top of the glacier and also embedded within it, that will one day be left behind as the retreating continues.

Looking further inland I saw hundreds of penguins standing on what looks like a frozen lake.

We continued onwards and upwards until we reached this amazing lookout over the main bulk of the colony. There were thousands of King Penguins in all directions with plenty of chicks still adorning their brown fluffy down feathers. It was a truly breathtaking view.

Now consider the noise they were all making. I tried to capture the moment on video, but I'm not sure you'll be able to hear the sound as it doesn't work on all devices. But, if you've ever wondered what a King Penguin sounds like, just listen to the sound as you unzip a coat or jacket! It's pretty close!

It's the sheer volume of penguins that is so spellbinding!

We stayed at the lookout for quite a while, really soaking it up before beginning our return journey back to the beach, which was quite a bit quicker. There was still plenty of Elephant Seal activity near the water. This giant male looked like the beachmaster (below). You can even see his breath as he bellows and moans, asserting his dominance. It certainly looks as though he has quite a few battle scars. We were also treated to more males having practice battles as we were walking the final stretch towards our depature point. Leaving the beach was looking as problematic as our arrival had been, with the same big Elephant Seals moving about in the water right where the zodiacs were trying to come ashore. Of course, the wildlife has the right of way. It's their home after all. We just had to be patient. Eventually, they moved away allowing us the space to depart.

It was nearly 8pm by the time we reached the ship, so we had to head to dinner almost as soon as we were back on board. As always, there was lots of chatter at the dinner table, sharing our experiences from the day. However, it was announced we'd be having a 5.30am wake up call the next morning - our final one on South Georgia, so we retired to bed early. Having seen so much, I wondered what else could possibly top it all?

Next post in series: South Georgia Day 4!

To see a smaller selection of my favourite photos from the holiday, click here.