Elsehul, Prion Island and Salisbury Plain, South Georgia Island
An amazing day, and perhaps one of the best wildlife days of my life!
Wow - South Georgia Island! After travelling 750 nautical miles from the Falkland Islands, we have arrived, and with nice weather to boot. Because of all of the close-encounter whale sightings yesterday, we thought today might possibly be mellow. Ha Ha! What an amazing day, and perhaps one of the best wildlife days of my life. Our first outing was a Zodiac cruise in an incredibly rich bay called Elsehul on the northwest side of South Georgia. Let me just give you a list of some of the wildlife we saw: black-browed, gray-headed, wandering and light-mantled sooty albatrosses, blue-eyed shags (cormorants), snowy sheathbills, brown skuas, kelp gulls, Antarctic terns, Wilson’s storm petrels, white-chinned petrels, southern fur seals, southern elephant seals, northern and southern giant petrels, macaroni penguins, chinstrap penguins, king penguins and gentoo penguins. And this was all within the first hour of our visit to the island!
… wandering albatrosses incubating eggs and fur seal pups …
After lunch, we headed out to Prion Island, where, on the top of this tiny offshore islet, 60 or so gigantic, majestic wandering albatrosses are nesting, incubating their eggs and courting for possible future pair bonds. Up and up we hiked, through tussock grass, fur seal pups and penguins to the splendid, windswept grassy hills where thin-billed and Antarctic prions, common and Georgian diving petrels, brown skuas, white-chinned petrels, and the endemic South Georgia pintail and South Georgia pipit (the only song bird in Antarctic waters) breed.
King penguins galore…
And if that wasn’t enough, we finished off the day with a visit to perhaps the most scenic of all king penguin colonies on the whole of the island. At least 30,000 pairs (plus another several thousand non-breeders) of brightly-colored, trumpeting, courting and bickering king penguins mate, moult and mill about on an expansive flat alluvial out-washed plain where a massive glacier has recently retreated. The sight was truly awesome, and a perfect finish to our first day on my favorite island in the entire world.
An amazing day, and perhaps one of the best wildlife days of my life!
Wow - South Georgia Island! After travelling 750 nautical miles from the Falkland Islands, we have arrived, and with nice weather to boot. Because of all of the close-encounter whale sightings yesterday, we thought today might possibly be mellow. Ha Ha! What an amazing day, and perhaps one of the best wildlife days of my life. Our first outing was a Zodiac cruise in an incredibly rich bay called Elsehul on the northwest side of South Georgia. Let me just give you a list of some of the wildlife we saw: black-browed, gray-headed, wandering and light-mantled sooty albatrosses, blue-eyed shags (cormorants), snowy sheathbills, brown skuas, kelp gulls, Antarctic terns, Wilson’s storm petrels, white-chinned petrels, southern fur seals, southern elephant seals, northern and southern giant petrels, macaroni penguins, chinstrap penguins, king penguins and gentoo penguins. And this was all within the first hour of our visit to the island!
… wandering albatrosses incubating eggs and fur seal pups …
After lunch, we headed out to Prion Island, where, on the top of this tiny offshore islet, 60 or so gigantic, majestic wandering albatrosses are nesting, incubating their eggs and courting for possible future pair bonds. Up and up we hiked, through tussock grass, fur seal pups and penguins to the splendid, windswept grassy hills where thin-billed and Antarctic prions, common and Georgian diving petrels, brown skuas, white-chinned petrels, and the endemic South Georgia pintail and South Georgia pipit (the only song bird in Antarctic waters) breed.
King penguins galore…
And if that wasn’t enough, we finished off the day with a visit to perhaps the most scenic of all king penguin colonies on the whole of the island. At least 30,000 pairs (plus another several thousand non-breeders) of brightly-colored, trumpeting, courting and bickering king penguins mate, moult and mill about on an expansive flat alluvial out-washed plain where a massive glacier has recently retreated. The sight was truly awesome, and a perfect finish to our first day on my favorite island in the entire world.
