Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah
On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be
(Under the boardwalk) Out of the sun
(Under the boardwalk) We'll be havin' some fun
(Under the boardwalk) People walking above
(Under the boardwalk) We'll be falling in love
Under the boardwalk, boardwalk
- The Drifters
On our last expedition day here in South Georgia we were all treated to a rather unusual gift, a wooden boardwalk! Up until now our landings have often been over ice and snow, or cobble and boulders, or through melted water streams, or even through tussock grass fields…unsure footing to say the least. Here on Prion Island the folks at South Georgia Heritage Trust (the same people who are currently trying to eradicate rats from this island) have built a beautiful wooden boardwalk from the landing beach all the way to the top of Prion Island with one purpose in mind, to make it easy to view wandering albatrosses at their nesting sites.
The walking is easy, with nicely spaced steps and chicken wire tacked to the wood for good boot grip. There is a convenient handrail along the steeper parts. The good folks who built the boardwalk even thought about passing areas and have created wide spots where one group might allow another group passage. In short, it is a perfect way to ascend this otherwise very muddy, slippery, and tussock covered island. The fact that this is indeed a perfect access to higher parts of the island has in no way been lost to the local population. Antarctic fur seals quickly realized the travel potential of this boardwalk within moments of it being completed several years ago. Now fur seals of all ages believe the highway to be their own, and it’s only with a great deal of prodding and cajoling that we humans can clear the path, much to the raucous indignation of the fur seals! That, as they say, is only half the fun!
Finally, gaining access to the top yields incredible views of the rolling hills of Prion Island, surrounded by islands of all sizes and shapes here in the Bay of Isles. The scenery is absolutely sublime…but wait, what are those large almost all white forms spread out amongst the tussock? Here and there dotting the landscape are the forms of nesting wandering albatrosses, all on a nest containing a parent with either a single egg or a newly hatched chick.
These birds have returned to Prion Island in November to reconnect with their mate of the year before. Divorce amongst wandering albatrosses is almost unheard of! After a courtship period of about a month, a single egg is laid in December and now the parents will each take a turn incubating that egg as their partner flies to sea in search of food. This incubation period will last for roughly 80 days, until the single egg weighing approximately 450 grams hatches. Now each parent will return to sea for food in turn, leaving their partner and chick at the nest site until the chick is large enough to defend itself against potential threats like skuas and giant petrels. A parent might fly as far as 7,500 km in search of food on a single foray at sea, returning to the nest perhaps 2 weeks or more after departing. Amazingly this albatross chick will be on its nest for about 278 days from the time of hatching until finally fledging and leaving the nest for a journey to sea that might last several years without ever touching land!
Our morning passes much too quickly as we are all fascinated by not only the albatrosses, but also by two endemic South Georgia bird species; the pipit and the pintail. A very curious female leopard seal added the final touches to our morning outings and we wrapped up the landing with a final wave goodbye to South Georgia and turned our bow towards our next destination of this expedition, The Falklands.
