Our second full day in South Georgia began before daybreak in this magnificent and wild place. The National Geographic Explorer had anchored overnight in a nearby sheltered bay and set sail for Salisbury Plain at 0315 with the intention to begin our outing just before 0500. Salisbury Plain is known mainly for being the site of the second largest King Penguin colony in South Georgia. The breeding population is estimated to be between 60-100,000 pairs of King penguin. The range in that estimate varies due to the fact that King penguins have a unique breeding system in that the birds nest on a triennial cycle, that is 1-2 nesting cycles in 3 years. On average a pair of Kings will take 12-14 months to raise their one chick to fledgling age. It's this fact that means all the King penguin colonies are occupied and active at all times of the year with some birds incubating their one precious egg, others tending to newly hatched young, and still other birds tending to the large downy brown chicks called “Oakum Boys”. By 0430 the expedition team was on shore and readying for the guests that chose to get a predawn glimpse of this bustling and wild locale. Along with the sights and sounds of tens of thousands of King penguins, the beach and breakwater of the shoreline is literally crawling with young Antarctic Fur seal pups whiling away the day awaiting their mothers return from foraging to nurse them. These big-eyed pups make no attempt to hide themselves from our presence. Instead rather, they approach with bravado and flare scampering up to within just feet, all the while making the most raucous sounds and calls. As the day broke through the cloud cover the whole scene began to unfold and if one were just simply to sit still at any point one would be soon surrounded by 3 foot tall penguins being curiously examined while small herds of adorable seal pups get a closer look. We were able to stay at this remarkable place the entire morning and we left the sounds and sites reluctantly for our next destination of the day.
Fortuna Bay, in contrast to Salisbury Plain, is the site of a much smaller King Penguin colony at just over 3,000 pairs. That said the scene is no less impressive and in fact, the setting this population of Kings has chosen is quite spectacular. Rather than being near the shoreline and spreading out inland, this colony is about 1 km inland and with a beautiful glacial valley as the surroundings, it's an incredible site to explore. The glacial plain is surrounded by the remnant and hanging glaciers in an amphitheater like setting. Large morainal features jut out from the valley and a series of melt water streams meander through the vegetated and gravelly lowlands. About half of our guests decided to take the opportunity to explore this landscape by taking a less direct route to visit the colony and amble over the plains, and atop the moraines to ultimately find themselves looking down on the activity of the colony. The other half of our contingency made a more direct route to the colony, strolling over the vegetated plain littered with fur seal pups nursing from their mothers, with King Penguins scattered about resting or molting. The sensation of being surrounded by so much life amidst such a wild and scenic landscape is nearly indescribable. Simple words or even elegant photographs cannot bring a place like Fortuna Bay or Salisbury Plain to life. Being there is truly the only way to make one appreciate the special and magical qualities of South Georgia.
