South Georgia - St. Andrew's Bay - Gold Harbour

Our second day on South Georgia meant another early start. We were in Group 2 leaving on the Zodiacs at 7am. There was a heavy swell, which made boarding the Zodiac far from easy. It was a short ride to the shore, where we were met by Stefan who held the Zodiac steady as we all disembarked.

Immediately, we were surrounded by penguins and fur seals. Close by was this group of sleeping elephant seals.

King penguins ignoring the massive elephant seals

Doesn't seem like a fair fight to me!

Walking along the beach towards the king penguin colony

Fur seals as far as the glacier

Elephant seal pups

After a short walk, we had to ford a stream and the expedition crew tried several crossing points before we were led across.

Hans Peter, or is it Daniil?

When we reached the edge of the king penguin colony, we saw this beautiful reindeer with magnificent antlers. The next time we come to South Georgia, they will all have been culled, because they are not an indigenous species, having been introduced by the Norwegian whalers. So this wonderful photo, taken by Wendy, is one of the last of a reindeer on South Georgia.

One of the last reindeer on South Georgia

The St. Andrew's Bay king penguin colony is said to be the largest colony anywhere in Antarctica, with about half a million birds!

King penguins as far as the eye can see

We spent about an hour at the colony before starting our walk back to the Zodiacs. As we left the ridge above the colony, Wendy took this photo of four king penguins and Silver Explorer at anchor in the bay.

Silver Explorer at anchor

We crossed the stream and reached the beach area where we had landed. There were elephant seal pups, penguins and fur seals everywhere.

An unusual sight. This is a fur seal cub that has a different pigmentation. It is not an albino.

Unusual coloured fur seal

Elephant seals playing in the shallows

Wendy and Jo surrounded by king penguins

It had been a really memorable excursion and one we will never forget. To have seen so many penguins in one place and to be surrounded by wildlife on such a scale is very special indeed.

We boarded the Zodiacs and returned to the ship. Breakfast was no longer being served in the main dining-room, so we went to the Panorama Lounge for tea, coffee and pastries. It was fun watching the birds, mainly prions and grey-mantled albatross, flying by the ship.

Shortly after, the captain pulled up the anchor and we set sail for Gold Harbour.

Leaving St. Andrew's Bay

The scenery of South Georgia is stunning with numerous high snow-capped mountains, their summits hidden by clouds. Glaciers flow down to the sea from each valley. It is wonderful to see.

We reached Gold Harbour after a couple of hours but, owing to the weather forecast of worsening conditions, the walk ashore was abandoned and all we could do was a Zodiac ride to the beach area. Wendy decided to stay on board, so I went on my own.

I wanted to go, as the last time we were here, in 2008, we couldn't land because of the incredibly high katabatic winds that were blowing. The captain had struggled to keep the ship steady and all we could do was take photos from the ship of the wonderful scenery. 

Gold Harbour and its receding glacier

Daniil on the scouting Zodiac

Icebergs close to Gold Harbour

The ride ashore was quick and once again we were surrounded by gentoo, king penguins and elephant and fur seals.

There was a group of elephant seals wallowing in the sand, and every so often flicking sand over themselves to keep cool. A 'brave' gentoo decided to walk across one of the seals and, much to our surprise, stood on the seal's head. The seal totally ignored the uninvited visitor!

The gentoo standing on the elephant seal's head

More king penguins!

I walked along the beach avoiding aggressive fur seals to take some photos of the king penguin colony. I spent about an hour there before heading back to the ship.

Because of the changing weather, the planned sail to Grytviken this evening has been cancelled and instead we will remain here for the night and then leave Gold Harbour at 5am. We will head for Godthul, before going on to Grytviken.

To end the day, we went to the bar with Susan and Kris and met up with Martin, Tama and Cliff. After a few drinks, we all went to the dining-room for a very enjoyable meal together.

Another wonderful day and I am so pleased that my great memories of South Georgia were not exaggerated in any way. If anything, it has been even better this time!

Distance Travelled: 28 NM