January 7

Days 12-15  South Georgia

As you near the rugged island of South Georgia, spare a thought for Captain James Cook, who arrived here in 1775 and believed it to be the northern tip of a great southern continent.  In fact, it is a small island only 176 km long, but with a 3000m snow-capped mountain range, some of the world's largest congregations of wildlife and a truly fascinating human history.  South Georgia is an island of incredible riches.  On approach, jagged mountain peaks rise steeply, while seabirds are often spotted soaring around the ship.  

Remember to layer up before joining Zodiac cruises around craggy coves and along the rocky coastline in search of nesting penguins, seal haul-outs, and bird cliffs.  Remember to keep an eye out for South Georgia's kelp forests as well - these remarkable underwater ecosystems are quite mesmerising as their fronds sway back and forth on the water's surface. 

Zodiacs will also shuttle you from ship to shore, where you can visit some of the largest king penguin colonies on the planet, take a guided walk among fur seals and elephant seals (making sure you listen to your guides and keep your distance!), and wander along pebbled streams and grassy glacial outwash plains.  We also hope to visit the remnants of South Georgia's thriving whaling stations and pay our respects to Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose incredible voyage of survival is synonymous with this island.

South Georgia is part of  the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.  Here is it's flag, which I think has a lovely coat of arms.

Our first view of South Georgia brought back the colour green into our lives.  Kind of nice to see it again.

Our first planned stop this morning is at Cooper Bay, which is at the extreme southeast corner of the island of South Georgia.  "The area has large numbers of sea birds, including snow petrels, Antarctic prions, 12,000 pairs of black-browed albatross, chinstrap penguins, and 20,000 macaroni penguins.  There are also a number of fur seals, and this is one of the few places where they were not hunted by humans."

Well.......... wasn't that a party!  Zodiac cruise.  King penguins, Macaroni penguins, Chinstrap penguins, a few Gentoos.  Lots of fur seals.  Babies, adults, harems.  A leopard seal in the water right by our boat (I had my camera put away, but might get a pic from Holly).  So much fun watching the seals playing.  Busy, busy.........everyone's very busy.  Well, except for the sleeping seals.  Lots of babies about - both in/near the water and in the tussock bushes.  We witnessed a seal grabbing a Macaroni penguin and having lunch.  The giant petrels gathered around for leftovers.  So much to see!!  I took a lot of videos.

Off to Gold Harbour for an afternoon landing.  Iceberg and whale sightings along the way.  The weather continues to hold for us.  For now.....

OMG!  What a treat.  Lonely  Planet says there are 25,000 breeding pairs of King penguins, interspersed with several hundred pairs of Gentoos.  There sure were a lot!  A big heap of elephant seals as well, although they were busy napping.  In addition to the beautifully coloured adult Kings, we saw the kids in all stages of moulting.  The adults moult annually as well, so lots of feathers flying!  King penguins are the second largest penguin species, second only to Emperors.  They have a 14-16 month breeding cycle, with eggs laid in Nov/Dec and hatching in January.  It takes them about 40 days to get enough feathers to stay warm.  In about March their parents leave them to return to the ocean to feed, while all the chicks congregate together.  April - September the little ones fast while their parents are gone.  Around October the adults return and find their chicks.  Last year's chicks start to lose their down and get their adult colouring.  Today we were lucky enough to see the kiddos at all stages of losing their down.  At about 16 months old they are fully waterproof and ready to head to the ocean to feed themselves.  They start to mate at about 5 or 6 years old and live to about 15-20.  Again this afternoon........... lots of entertaining videos.  

Absolutely amazing day.  Too many pictures to sort through.  Will add them later...........