Accompanying text in italics is excerpted from the logbook written by Jo van Os and the other leaders on the 'Ultimate Antarctica' photo safari.
Right Whale Bay
Significant snow squalls made the weather interesting and our first glimpses of the mountains of South Georgia were of tantalizing jagged gray shapes far in the distance. Snow continued, off and on, throughout the morning almost until the time we finally made our first landing at Right Whale Bay. The seas were relatively calm as we landed on the sheltered, half-moon bay surrounded by steep hillsides now freshly blanketed by a light snow. Southern elephant eals and southern fur seals lay scattered on the tide line, but apparently the breeding season had barely started as their numbers were still relatively few, and they were not particularly aggressive. Joe Van Os was following Anna, who carried a long wooden oar as a deterrent, when one seal did charge across the beach at him—which he stopped by sticking his tripod‘s legs near the seal’s face and quickly backpeddling. They are feisty devils—the seals, that is!
King penguins waddled ashore in small numbers, some so full of fish that their bellies bulged and their gait was labored. One was so fat that it tried belly surfing across the sand and pebble beach, laboriously pushing with its front flippers and shoving with its feet, a movement so inefficient it was first thought that the penguin was simply sick. Fat, brown-feathered juveniles clustered together at the far end of the beach and, on the distant hills, we could see several small colonies.
Although the height of the elephant seal breeding season had almost passed, the aftermath was still visible as a few bulls were lying about clearly showing the wounds from earlier fights. One male snored and snorted through a snout now ripped clearly in two, with most of the right half missing. Another dripped a drool of blood in several grotesque long streams, which attracted a skua that cautiously moved in to snatch a mouthful. The seal was clearly annoyed and would rise periodically, bellowing its gurgling roar in annoyance.
By 1800 the light had dropped and nearly horizontal tiny hard icy pellets of windswept rain or hail periodically lashed our cheeks. The last hour was cold, although another elephant seal with a tiny, quite young pup nearby, finally awoke and periodically rose, yawned and photogenically roared.
Stromness - penguin highways
I spent more time photographing landscapes than wildlife at Stromness Bay, but found an intriguing feature in the 'highways' the gentoo penguins had carved across a marshy area between the beach and the steep, tussoky hillside leading to their colonies safely above the fur seals.
Jason Harbour
Jason Harbor is the site of a hut that was built in 1911 and used for depositing mail. On the way the seas were rough, but the birds were flying behind the ship and several people braved the conditions to photograph. The afternoon was great with sun and light winds. The beach was full of elephant seals—we counted at least five big groups along the expanse of sand. We captured great wildlife behaviors, including mating, mothers and calves nuzzling and nursing, bulls challenging each other, and several bulls swimming along the edge. Fur seals and weaner elephant seals were up among the tussock grass. A few king and gentoo penguins showed up on the beach. Some of the participants also walked over to a small lagoon behind the main beach.
Godthul
The morning of Nov.13 was spent at Grytviken, and after lunch we cruised south to our afternoon landing at Godthul (Norwegian for “good harbor”). The site is noteworthy for the abundance of whale bones littering the beach, the scenically-situated gentoo colonies on the upper slopes, and the herds of reindeer that graze the lush grasses. [The beach was narrow, and densely occupied by fur seals, so I did not explore far and occupied myself with gentoo penguins on the beach.]
Saint Andrews Bay
[Nov. 14. Our best day on South Georgia.]
At 0300, Monika and Joe Van Os had scoped out the early morning weather situation. The sky was filled with broken clouds, a photogenic sunrise looked possible, the wind was favorable for a landing, and wave swell was moderate. Our landing was a “go.” By 0400 we commenced the landing on the legendary beach at St. Andrews Bay. Just prior to our departure, “bio-secure” breakfast sandwiches and snacks were available in the ship’s lounge to eat on board or to take ashore.
By 0430 the 50 participants who opted for the early morning landing were ashore and experiencing the spectacle of St. Andrews—the largest king penguin colony on South Georgia and the island’s largest and most populated elephant seal beach. Safety instructions were given as well as rules for the engagement of wildlife on this sweeping 1.8-mile (3 km) long beach. Clouds forming on the low horizon precluded a dramatic sunrise. People fanned out in all directions, some heading to the far distance to visit the king penguins, others working the shoreline where penguins were heading out to sea for their morning foraging expeditions, while several photographers concentrated on fighting and mating elephant seals. By 0600 the wind had picked up strongly with hints of katabatic gusts blowing bursts of dry sand across the beach. This barely dampened the spirits of our photographers and most kept on shooting—unfazed.
By 0700 the beach and the bay were experiencing a full-blown gale. Strong westerly winds and 60-70 mph katabatic gusts created blasting sandstorms across the beach and our safety became more of a concern as Joe Van Os, on shore, and Monika, aboard the Ushuaia, monitored the situation. The 0800 landing for our remaining passengers who had stayed onboard for breakfast was postponed due to the hazard of mounting sea swell on the ship’s gangway and the possibility of drenching waves during the Zodiac operation. Despite the blowing sand, photography on shore continued and unique images of South Georgia wildlife emerging from a fog of blowing sand were undoubtedly created. It is a testament to the quality of today’s camera equipment, that little damage to cameras and lenses by the blowing sand was reported.
By 0900 it was obvious that, despite inviting blue skies and sunshine, the persistent strongly gusting wind presented a safety issue and the entire shore party was collected and gathered together for an orderly departure from the beach. With a potential threat of a Zodiac flipping by the off-shore wind, several staff or seamen remained in the Zodiac as human ballast for the return trip from ship to shore after passengers were offloaded. By 1000 all passengers and staff were back on board Ushuaia.
Salisbury Plain
Our Salisbury Plain landing began at 0700 onto a steep and stony beach with lots of male fur seals—each bull defending their chosen position in grumpy readiness for the arrival of the cows in about two weeks’ time. Over 35 groups of elephant seal families could be seen along the foreshore in groups of 2 to 35 cows, each with a variety of fat black-coated pups and one dominant alpha male bull. Scattered around each elephant seal group were other males who were ostensibly asleep but also waiting for an opportunity to mate. Weaving paths among this mix were king penguins in the many thousands—surf in, walk back and forth, dive in, wash, and provide tasteful beauty to an otherwise drab gray and green landscape. The weather was never the same from one moment to the next. So many seasons and conditions were experienced in so few hours that we lost count—dry, sun, rain, rainbows, sleet, snow, hail, freezing, cold, warm, wind and more wind! The light, at times, was spectacular and we found many shots that summed up a truly memorable and spectacular site with its 100,000 pairs of breeding king penguins.
Cooper Bay
The weather was gorgeous, the visibility excellent and the sea conditions mild for our planned expedition to view the macaroni penguins in Cooper Bay. The Special Protected Area of Cooper Island lay to the east. After breakfast, the first group was away shortly before 0900 (we worked in two groups to allow more room in the Zodiacs to photograph). The macaroni penguins are normally abundant on the rocks adjacent to the colony, but for some reason—probably due to the low tide—the numbers were sparse. However, everyone had the opportunity to view them, along with a selection of pintail ducks, sheathbills and overflying light-mantled sooty albatrosses, in the wonderful morning light.
updated 12/27/2013
