South Georgia On My Mind
If the Falkland Islands seemed remote to me when anticipating a November expedition to the southernmost seas, then South Georgia was a bit mind-blowing. Peek at a map: it’s really OUT there, this sweep of rugged islands that rise up 960 miles (1550 km) further eastward into the south Atlantic than the Falklands. “Middle of nowhere,” though, is not how I’d put it. It was the middle of some of the most amazing wildlife encounters I’ve ever seen. But more on that in future blogs.
Our misty arrival teased us with the beauty yet to come
Let me introduce South Georgia, bearing in mind I’ve only spent five days there. I’m emboldened by information from excellent guides and references. For adventurers (armchair or otherwise), you’ll recall that Sir Ernest Shackleton spent 16 days sailing there in a converted lifeboat with open cockpit from Elephant Island at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1916. He and five men ventured across the 820 miles of open ocean in and hit the 100 mile long speck in the ocean known as South Georgia. Amazing.
A bad map (sorry) of South Georgia showing the places we visited
They landed with white-knuckle difficulty in King Haakon Bay on the south side of South Georgia. To reach their rescuers (hoping they hadn’t already left for the winter), three of them mounted an epic 22 mile alpine hike in early winter conditions across the mountainous and glaciated spine of South Georgia to the whaling station of Stromness on the north shore.
Waterfalls at Hercules Bay - note the many seals on the beach
Hikers setting out on Shackleton’s final four miles
Shackleton’s story is, of course, legendary. Imagine my excitement to have the opportunity to walk the last four miles of his route! Our day started foggy and involved some considerable snow fields, but in actuality, it was for us just a morning’s jaunt followed by lunch on the ship. This constant juxtaposition of our comfort and ease of travel when compared with the travails of those who first explored these waters was honestly humbling. What a difference 100 years of technology, exploration, and innovation can make.
Shackleton’s final two miles across a giant glacial plain to Stromness whaling station (in the distance, with our ship)
Two fur seals with snow-dusting of molted penguin feathers
Sad to reflect now (but important at the time), early explorers were in the hunt to make their fortunes. The first sealers arrived in 1786. After the seals were largely decimated, the same was done to the whales, beginning in 1904. By 1912, there were seven on-shore whaling stations that could process 24 whales a day. There were also eight floating processing factories. Among its other uses (margarine, lamp oil, etc.), whale oil was needed in WWI as a prime ingredient of the nitroglycerin invented by Alfred Nobel.
Wildlife and mountains, Gold Harbor
The last South Georgia whaling station, Leith Harbor, closed in 1965. In all, so many whales were slaughtered that, if the number is divided by the number of days in the 20th century, then 55.88 whales were killed each day...
Hiking the steep tussoc-covered hills behind Gold Harbor
Although several whale species are still struggling to rebound, the fur seals have rebounded very well. We visited several of their beaches, shared with elephant seals, various species of penguins, and other wild critters. Oh, those elephant seals! Especially the bull “beachmasters” struggling to guard their harems and do their manly work to insure species survival! Watch for coming blogs about the wildlife, but even though I’ve worked lifelong with large animals, know that having a bull elephant charge toward you results in a very noticeable adrenalin rush.
St. Andrews Bay is home to the largest king penguin breeding colony, with over 200,000 pairs. The brown chicks were about 10 months old, and nearly ready to molt into adult plummage. Yet many were still being fed by their parents (who were also beginning to find mates for the current season). Busy birds!
On the hike from Maiviken to Grytviiken whaling station
South Georgia is beautifully wild. Some have described it as if someone lopped off the tops of the European Alps and dropped them into the Southern Ocean. It is an apt description of a place with elevations that top 9,000 feet. Many of us gladly climbed tough terrain on several occasions to earn splendid views.
We saw a lot! Although there were too many fur seals on the beach to visit Bird Island safely, we enjoyed seeing Elsehul, the Salisbury Plain, Prince Olav Harbor, Hercules Bay, and St. Andrews Bay. We walked from Fortuna Bay over the hills to Stromness, and King Edward Point to Leith Harbor, and from Maiviken to Gritviken. We bounced out of bed at 03:00 to try for the sunrise colors at Gold Harbor (failed, but succeeded on the second try!). We ship-cruised up the length of Drygalski Fjord to see its glacier calving, then rounded South Georgia’s southeasternmost point. We bypassed Cape Disappointment and headed southwest for the Antarctic Peninsula.
Elephant seals foregrounding the scene at Grytviken
A derelict whaling ship, with the round, wooden spotting station high on the mast
The grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton
What a place, South Georgia. Nowadays, only a handful of people live there, mostly in summer. There are researchers, and a crew to host visitors to Grytviken’s museum, post office, and whaling station. Among must-do activities is a visit to the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his righthand man, Frank Wild (buried beside him). There, by tradition, we each lifted a cup of whiskey to toast Shackleton, drank half, and poured the rest on the stones of his gravesite. “To The Boss!” Unforgettable.
[Our hosts were the cream of the crop at National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions. See more at nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/]
A curious king penguin chick investigates Kate’s boot
