poletopole (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
poletopole) wrote2007-12-04 08:00 pm
poletopole) wrote2007-12-04 08:00 pm
Entry tags:
Bay of Isles and Fortuna Bay
Ship's Position at 12:00:
Breakfast is at 06:30 this morning, rather than at 08:00; we have to be ready to get into the Zodiacs at 08:00. And we manage it, but we make very slow progress after that.
South Georgia's Salisbury Plain (I am looking forward to having some fun with Photoshop and penguins someday) is not only home to the second-largest king penguin colony on South Georgia, it is also the seasonal base of an uncountable number of bad-tempered fur seals.
It is the end of the mating season for fur seals and the ones still hanging around are the losers, young males who were outfought by the older, bigger males. They are extremely territorial and fear nothing, having no land predators. Their personal space extends as far as possible from themselves to the next fur seal — and the shorter the distance is, the worse-tempered the fur seal will be. In general there seems to be about 10 to 20 feet between fur seals and if you walk between them, either or both can take offense, growl, and charge, teeth bared.
We have been shown photos of fur seal bites in our briefing about South Georgia. We have been told not to harass the fur seals. We have not been told how to get them to back off and leave us alone. We realize this a few minutes after landing.
It takes me about 45 minutes to go the half-mile to the penguin colony, mostly wading up a mucky creek that is usually, but not always, neutral territory between the seals. Usually. Apparently the cumulative effect of more than 70 humans passing through increases the seals' natural combativeness.
There are also Southern elephant seal weaners lying around, and a few full-grown elephant seals. The caution one habitually exercises around these is spent entirely on the fur seals and I will walk very close indeed, albeit carefully, next to an elephant seal, in order to avoid a fur seal. Fortunately, the elephant seals barely react. Sometimes they open their eyes.
On arrival at the king penguin colony, in an area relatively free of seals, I see that king penguins fill the plain up to the lower parts of the mountains backing the valley. From the colony's edge, I spot people who have managed to penetrate further up into the colony,I cannot imagine how — what with not wanting to wade hip-deep in penguins (which behave as if they are quite indifferent to humans) or be bitten by a fur seal. Still, the edge of the colony is a good place to watch the penguins as they come and go from the sea.
The penguins' fluffy brown year-old chicks, which look like penguins wearing Edward Gorey fur coats, are there also, many now in various stages of moulting to adult plumage.
To return to the Zodiac landing area, I'm advised it might be best to go along the beach; this proves problematic as the seals on the beach can chase one into the sea well above one's rubber boots. It takes much longer than expected to get back to the landing area and a lot of people are late, delayed by the fauna.
As the passengers eat lunch the ship leaves the Bay of Isles and in the afternoon anchors in Fortuna Bay. Here we are promised "waterfalls, extensive wildlife, and tranquility" one of which cancels another when the wildlife includes fur seals.
At Fortuna Bay the penguin colony is about a mile from the landing site; on the beach along the way is a cave used by sealers, about four of whom might be left to overwinter there in the 1800s as the seals became fewer and competition for them became keener.
This penguin colony is on a long glacial moraine; the glacier itself has retreated rapidly but can still be seen at the head of the valley. Meltwater drains through the rocky plain and into the bay, carrying silt that makes this part of the bay too shallow for Zodiac landings.
The walk to the colony is less fraught with snapping, lunging fur seals than the morning's walk. Surrounded by sharp, high, snowy mountains, the penguins honk and call and the chicks whistle pleadingly for food from their parents. Chicks are not so numerous as this morning but they cluster together and solidly cover a large area in the center of the colony. It is a mild day and many of the penguins and chicks are standing in the cool stream. The stream winding through the green grasses to the bay below the picturesque mountains is Arcadian: Arcadia, with penguins.
A group of reindeer stroll through; introduced by fur seal hunters for food, they're confined to this valley by the ice and thus their population is limited to what the valley will support. They also degrade the environment, grazing. It is extremely strange to see reindeer and penguins in real life rather than on an ecologically incorrect Christmas card.
The cards leave out fur seals, but some include polar bears. My guess is that if someone introduced polar bears to South Georgia to control the fur seals, they would prefer to eat penguins.
I had been hoping to get a look at the glacier with our expedition's geologist, Norm Lasca, but with all the other interesting things to look at I don't climb up there in time. Instead I walk back to the Zodiac site with Norm and a few others; the fur seals seem less ubiquitous and have perhaps gone for an evening swim to catch dinner.
Our dinner is a barbecue on the bow of the ship, which seemed like a good idea, then not, then it was a good idea again — the wind kept coming up and dropping during the day. In the end the passengers and catering staff make a good show of it, but all the delicious food is cold as soon as it hits the paper plate and the paper plate itself can't be left alone for an instant; the wind sends many food-frisbees across the deck. The highlight is dessert: baked apples with marzipan and raisins inside, served with caramel sauce. I eat two.
The evening movie is Madagascar, which has penguins.
- 54°02.3' S 37°20.1' W
- At anchor
- Air temperature 10°C; Water temperature 2°C
- Wind 18 kts Direction 270°
- Weather: Sunny; Visibility 10
- Distance covered past 24 hours: 248.9 nautical miles
Breakfast is at 06:30 this morning, rather than at 08:00; we have to be ready to get into the Zodiacs at 08:00. And we manage it, but we make very slow progress after that.
South Georgia's Salisbury Plain (I am looking forward to having some fun with Photoshop and penguins someday) is not only home to the second-largest king penguin colony on South Georgia, it is also the seasonal base of an uncountable number of bad-tempered fur seals.
It is the end of the mating season for fur seals and the ones still hanging around are the losers, young males who were outfought by the older, bigger males. They are extremely territorial and fear nothing, having no land predators. Their personal space extends as far as possible from themselves to the next fur seal — and the shorter the distance is, the worse-tempered the fur seal will be. In general there seems to be about 10 to 20 feet between fur seals and if you walk between them, either or both can take offense, growl, and charge, teeth bared.
We have been shown photos of fur seal bites in our briefing about South Georgia. We have been told not to harass the fur seals. We have not been told how to get them to back off and leave us alone. We realize this a few minutes after landing.
It takes me about 45 minutes to go the half-mile to the penguin colony, mostly wading up a mucky creek that is usually, but not always, neutral territory between the seals. Usually. Apparently the cumulative effect of more than 70 humans passing through increases the seals' natural combativeness.
There are also Southern elephant seal weaners lying around, and a few full-grown elephant seals. The caution one habitually exercises around these is spent entirely on the fur seals and I will walk very close indeed, albeit carefully, next to an elephant seal, in order to avoid a fur seal. Fortunately, the elephant seals barely react. Sometimes they open their eyes.
On arrival at the king penguin colony, in an area relatively free of seals, I see that king penguins fill the plain up to the lower parts of the mountains backing the valley. From the colony's edge, I spot people who have managed to penetrate further up into the colony,I cannot imagine how — what with not wanting to wade hip-deep in penguins (which behave as if they are quite indifferent to humans) or be bitten by a fur seal. Still, the edge of the colony is a good place to watch the penguins as they come and go from the sea.
The penguins' fluffy brown year-old chicks, which look like penguins wearing Edward Gorey fur coats, are there also, many now in various stages of moulting to adult plumage.
To return to the Zodiac landing area, I'm advised it might be best to go along the beach; this proves problematic as the seals on the beach can chase one into the sea well above one's rubber boots. It takes much longer than expected to get back to the landing area and a lot of people are late, delayed by the fauna.
As the passengers eat lunch the ship leaves the Bay of Isles and in the afternoon anchors in Fortuna Bay. Here we are promised "waterfalls, extensive wildlife, and tranquility" one of which cancels another when the wildlife includes fur seals.
At Fortuna Bay the penguin colony is about a mile from the landing site; on the beach along the way is a cave used by sealers, about four of whom might be left to overwinter there in the 1800s as the seals became fewer and competition for them became keener.
This penguin colony is on a long glacial moraine; the glacier itself has retreated rapidly but can still be seen at the head of the valley. Meltwater drains through the rocky plain and into the bay, carrying silt that makes this part of the bay too shallow for Zodiac landings.
The walk to the colony is less fraught with snapping, lunging fur seals than the morning's walk. Surrounded by sharp, high, snowy mountains, the penguins honk and call and the chicks whistle pleadingly for food from their parents. Chicks are not so numerous as this morning but they cluster together and solidly cover a large area in the center of the colony. It is a mild day and many of the penguins and chicks are standing in the cool stream. The stream winding through the green grasses to the bay below the picturesque mountains is Arcadian: Arcadia, with penguins.
A group of reindeer stroll through; introduced by fur seal hunters for food, they're confined to this valley by the ice and thus their population is limited to what the valley will support. They also degrade the environment, grazing. It is extremely strange to see reindeer and penguins in real life rather than on an ecologically incorrect Christmas card.
The cards leave out fur seals, but some include polar bears. My guess is that if someone introduced polar bears to South Georgia to control the fur seals, they would prefer to eat penguins.
I had been hoping to get a look at the glacier with our expedition's geologist, Norm Lasca, but with all the other interesting things to look at I don't climb up there in time. Instead I walk back to the Zodiac site with Norm and a few others; the fur seals seem less ubiquitous and have perhaps gone for an evening swim to catch dinner.
Our dinner is a barbecue on the bow of the ship, which seemed like a good idea, then not, then it was a good idea again — the wind kept coming up and dropping during the day. In the end the passengers and catering staff make a good show of it, but all the delicious food is cold as soon as it hits the paper plate and the paper plate itself can't be left alone for an instant; the wind sends many food-frisbees across the deck. The highlight is dessert: baked apples with marzipan and raisins inside, served with caramel sauce. I eat two.
The evening movie is Madagascar, which has penguins.