Upon leaving Port Stanley, we set sail for South Georgia.
Within a few hours, we entered the Antarctic Convergence sailing the Scotia
Sea where there was a noticeable drop in temperature. There were plenty
of albatross, petrels, and pichons flying around the ship. Dolphins could
be seen splashing in the distance.
The expedition crews lectures were informative and eclectic - the exploitation
of whales, seals, and fish, penguin life, Sir Ernest Shackleton, plate
tectonics, and global warming -to name a few.
Each day we left the ship to board a zodiac which took us to our destination
where would hike and climb or simply sit and observe the penguins and
seals. Despite enormous swells at times, the ship’s crew did an
excellent job of getting everyone into and off the zodiacs safely.
Highlights of This Fabulous Journey South
• Salisbury Plain ( north coast of south Georgia)which lies between
the mouths of two glaciers with its “welcoming committee”
of king penguins and fur seal pups; where the mature seal “beach
masters” bask in the sun, looking like huge rocks.
• Elsehul, an area where there are colonies of fur and elephant
seals with Gentoo penguins interspersed among them, living in complete
harmony.
• Stromness Bay, where Shackleton arrived in his heroic effort to
save his crew who were stranded on elephant Island; where the old whaling
station, abandoned long ago, stands vacant and rusting; where we climbed
the ridge past the waterfall to re-create Shackleton’s trek into
Stromness; white reindeer, brought there by the whalers, still roaming
the hills.
• Fin whales and orcas moving in graceful ballet-like patterns alongside
the ship
• Icebergs with their blue refracted light that seem to have been
carved by a sculptor
