South Georgia is undoubtedly the highlight of any trip into the Antarctic region for wildlife lovers. The subantarctic island is situated just south of the Antarctic convergence, or polar front, in extremely nutritious waters. Though largely glaciated, the eastern shores are mostly ice free and allow for massive congregations of marine wildlife, both mammals and birds, to flourish.
Getting to South Georgia requires time -it’s roughly a two day sail east from the Falkland Islands and three full days at sea if going right out of Ushuaia. While there is plenty to see en-route, being in the featureless landscape of the Southern Ocean for three days means that the first sign of land is always a welcome surprise. Most trips will sail past the mysterious ‘Shag Rocks,’ a small group of rocks that stick up out of the middle of the ocean and that are populated by the endemic South Georgia shag, a cormorant species that exploits the upwelling of cold nutritious water and its associated species of fish and krill from the depths below around the rocks. Weather and ocean conditions make Shag Rocks too dangerous to land at, but the water around usually provides great wildlife viewing -Antarctic fur seals are often seen in the vicinity of the rocks and on one particular occasion we were fortunate enough to find a female Southern Right Whale and its calf. The calf seemed to be well fed and was enjoying itself, exploring its athletic abilities by breaching and performing all sorts of acrobatic manoeuvres. Right whales have in the past been hunted to the brink of extinction so to see one in the first place is special, let alone for one to put on such a show.
A cormorant flying past the ship with the ominous Shag Rocks in the background
Shag Rocks is still about 150 miles west of South Georgia and normally the ship has to sail through the night before we wake up and see the notorious island with its spectacular coastline and mountains, some of which rise over 9,000 feet out of the ocean.
The island’s administration requires that any passengers on a ship that wish to land here perform a rigorous biosecurity inspection to ensure that no non-native/alien substances of any kind are brought ashore as these could negatively affect the fragile ecosystem. This is performed prior to landing with a further inspection taking place where one of the South Georgian officials comes onto the ship and essentially audits the inspection to ensure that it has been done properly.
There is good reasoning behind the biosecurity measures. South Georgia has had several species introduced to the island over the course of the 20th century that negatively impacted the island's natural biodiversity. Reindeer were introduced by the Norwegians in the early 20th century. Naturally the population grew as they fed on the island’s very limited vegetation cover. Rats were introduced (non-deliberately) and began predating upon many of the nesting seabirds’ eggs and chicks. Many of these seabirds have evolved to nest in areas that are devoid of natural terrestrial predators and have therefore not developed proper defence strategies to cope with them. When the negative impacts of the rats were discovered, the South Georgian government underwent a large-scale extermination program on the island which successfully concluded in 2018. The reindeer have also been removed.
The results of the cessation of whaling, sealing and an absence of invasive species on the island has allowed wildlife populations on South Georgia to flourish. The first port of call on the island is usually Grytviken, an old Norwegian whaling station. Landing here is technically usually very easy as it lies in a sheltered cove though there are thousands of fur seals that have populated the dilapidated buildings (the whaling station closed in 1966) and they make for an interesting ‘obstacle course’ of sorts for anyone wishing to explore the historic landmark. Going to the cemetery and visiting Ernest Shackleton’s grave is normally one of the ‘must-do’ stops while at Grytviken.
While there are mainly fur seals here, one does normally catch a glimpse of a king penguin or two and even Southern elephant seals come to shore here. The king penguin is gorgeous. It's the second largest penguin species and physically resembles the emperor–they are in the same family – though its ecology is quite different, breeding in ice-free areas in contrast to the emperor that breeds on fast ice. Southern elephant seals are the giants of South Georgia, the largest pinniped on earth, and early in the season we sometimes catch glimpses of beachmasters, the breeding males that try to dominate and mate with large groups of females. These beachmasters can weigh in excess of four tons, as much as a fully grown female elephant.
A popular spot to see larger haul-outs of elephant seals and possibly the most famous landing site in South Georgia is St Andrew’s Bay. Landing at St. Andrew’s presents a number of challenges. This is an exposed beach where waves can make getting people on shore tricky. We normally land on the northern side of the beach which is the most protected. The second challenge landing here is the density of wildlife. St Andrew’s Bay is the world’s largest king penguin colony with close to half a million birds being present in summer months and large concentrations of fur and elephant seals hauling out too. Finding a spot to nose the zodiacs on the beach is sometimes easier said than done
Once ashore, it’s a total overstimulation of the senses. Creating a route through the wildlife and to the main part of the king penguin colony is a fun challenge. Having worked as the bird specialist on a number of trips here has meant being able to flag the route for the guests to follow and also to spend a few moments alone at the main colony view-point, which is truly incredible.
The main king colony at St. Andrew's Bay with the receding valley glacier in the background
Why king penguins do so well at St Andrew’s is bittersweet as the glacier here has receded over recent decades due to global warming. In doing so, more breeding habitat for the kings is freed up and the colony has grown in recent years. Chicks tend to overwinter at the colony, being left to their own devices while their parents spend the harsh winters at sea, sporadically returning to check on their chick. If the chick makes it through the winter, it has a great chance to fledge. The fledging period lasts more than a year and is one of the longest of all birds. It means that king penguins only successfully breed once every two years or twice every three.
While navigating the various animals at St Andrew’s we get to observe the circle of life, with young elephant seals and kings being present and also sometimes being predated on by species such as Giant Petrels. While there are rules around how closely we can approach the animals (a healthy and safe distance), this is not always possible given that the animals in question don’t know the rules.
Another great place to land in South Georgia is called Gold Harbour. Here, a hanging glacier forms the dramatic backdrop behind a large king penguin colony and the chances of finding bird specials, such as the endemic South Georgia pipit (the only passerine that breeds south of the polar front) and the South Georgia pintail as well as the mysterious light mantled albatross, is another added highlight.
The spectacular hanging glacier and king penguin colony at Gold Harbour
The diversity and abundance of seabird life on South Georgia is second to none and the breeding stronghold for many species, such as the Antarctic prion. An estimated 20 million breeding pairs nest on the island alone. In an effort to protect the different bird colonies on South Georgia, many of the landing sites around the island have been closed to visitors going ashore over the last season and this is because HPAI or bird flu has made it down to the island. Conserving the ecosystem is the priority. We believe that South Georgia’s future, while uncertain, will be bright due to the measures that are in place to protect this fragile environment. The island has faced many challenges over the past couple of centuries in the form of whaling, sealing and the introduction of alien species and yet the wildlife has always rebounded and is flourishing.
We hope you enjoyed the Antarctic portion of the podcast. Join us next time as we head back to Africa to discuss a few new areas we recently visited on a trip to Botswana.
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