At Sea
As Endeavour heads north towards Tristan da Cunha, we leave the incredible island of South Georgia behind in our wake, but thoughts of the islands beauty and wildlife are at the forefront of our minds. Probably one of the most ingrained visions we have is of the Fur Seal, not only because of the vast numbers, but also who could forget those cute faces?!
The Antarctic fur seal is aptly named for its luxuriant fur. Currently South Georgia has an estimated 2 to 3 million, a thriving population to say the least, but this has not always been the case. In the late 1700’s, whaling ships began arriving back in England with not only their usual load of whale oil, but also seal oil and seal skins. Suddenly there was a boom in this virtually untapped market, and sealing was no longer something to be done in conjunction with whaling, but rather an industry unto itself. It is most likely that the first people to land on South Georgia were sealers. And did they find seals, oh yes, millions of seals; ships were regularly returning to port with 5000 or more sealskins. Extensive sealing continued through the first two decades of the 1800’s, the market cornered mostly by American sealing ships. But it soon became apparent that the seal population could not support these massacres, and soon ships started returning to port with inadequate loads. Although the sealing industry declined immensely, going from over 60 ships working in the Antarctic region in 1820 to a few in 1870, sealing did continue until the beginning of the 20th century. By this time the Antarctic fur seal population had declined nearly to extinction.
Our trip to South Georgia proved that the population is once again thriving. Every landing we visited was over-run with fur seals. At this time of year the big breeding males have left to head down to the Antarctic Peninsula, but there certainly were plenty of pups and females on the beaches. These pups suckle for 4 months before they are weaned at the end of March/beginning of April. While waiting for Mom to come back to the beach from her own feeding venture, the pups play and play and play. They swim in the shallow waters just off the beaches, or in the kelp off of rocks, churning the water, creating a fur seal soup. On the beach the pups practice their sparring techniques with each other . . . and us. They often will charge up to you, in all their 2-foot long and one-foot high ferociousness, only to stop dead when they realize you will not back down.
The Antarctic fur seal has had a long and challenging history in Antarctica. It comforting to see animals that were almost slaughtered to extinction are now coming back in such great numbers, under the protection of legislation.
As Endeavour heads north towards Tristan da Cunha, we leave the incredible island of South Georgia behind in our wake, but thoughts of the islands beauty and wildlife are at the forefront of our minds. Probably one of the most ingrained visions we have is of the Fur Seal, not only because of the vast numbers, but also who could forget those cute faces?!
The Antarctic fur seal is aptly named for its luxuriant fur. Currently South Georgia has an estimated 2 to 3 million, a thriving population to say the least, but this has not always been the case. In the late 1700’s, whaling ships began arriving back in England with not only their usual load of whale oil, but also seal oil and seal skins. Suddenly there was a boom in this virtually untapped market, and sealing was no longer something to be done in conjunction with whaling, but rather an industry unto itself. It is most likely that the first people to land on South Georgia were sealers. And did they find seals, oh yes, millions of seals; ships were regularly returning to port with 5000 or more sealskins. Extensive sealing continued through the first two decades of the 1800’s, the market cornered mostly by American sealing ships. But it soon became apparent that the seal population could not support these massacres, and soon ships started returning to port with inadequate loads. Although the sealing industry declined immensely, going from over 60 ships working in the Antarctic region in 1820 to a few in 1870, sealing did continue until the beginning of the 20th century. By this time the Antarctic fur seal population had declined nearly to extinction.
Our trip to South Georgia proved that the population is once again thriving. Every landing we visited was over-run with fur seals. At this time of year the big breeding males have left to head down to the Antarctic Peninsula, but there certainly were plenty of pups and females on the beaches. These pups suckle for 4 months before they are weaned at the end of March/beginning of April. While waiting for Mom to come back to the beach from her own feeding venture, the pups play and play and play. They swim in the shallow waters just off the beaches, or in the kelp off of rocks, churning the water, creating a fur seal soup. On the beach the pups practice their sparring techniques with each other . . . and us. They often will charge up to you, in all their 2-foot long and one-foot high ferociousness, only to stop dead when they realize you will not back down.
The Antarctic fur seal has had a long and challenging history in Antarctica. It comforting to see animals that were almost slaughtered to extinction are now coming back in such great numbers, under the protection of legislation.
