Elsehul & Salisbury Plain, South Georgia

December 25

Merry Christmas! It’s a beautiful sunny day in South Georgia. What a Christmas present!

We were asked to keep shades down all around the ship as well as in our cabins to lessen bird strikes while we are in South Georgia. If anyone found a bird in trouble out on deck we were to report it so someone could take care of it and make sure it was OK.

This morning we had a 2 hour zodiac cruise in Elsehul. I anticipated being colder on the zodiacs, so  I added an extra layer on my bottom half since sitting on the cold rubber (or whatever they are made of) could make your butt cold and even your feet. When doing the shore excursions you were up and walking or hiking so you often got warm and didn’t need as many layers.

 waiting on deck for our zodiac to be called

 Grey-headed Albatross

me on the right

We were extremely fortunate to see a Right Whale as they aren’t normally seen from a zodiac. It was a bit rough in the water to get out there, but was definitely worth it to see one. Right whales were named by whalers who identified them as the "right" whale to kill on a hunt due to the plentiful oil and baleen they could provide. We were the last zodiac to be called and the first zodiac to reach the whales radioed that it was pretty rough waters out there and if we weren’t close you may not want to come out, but added “follow your heart”. Nikita was our zodiac driver and he definitely followed his heart and we did get great views of what appeared to be 2 Right Whales. One may have been a young one.

 Greg in the middle

 going in search of the Right Whale

 you can see how rough the ocean was

 Since we were last off the ship we didn't get great shots of the whales, but we did get a few good looks at them

 these photos were shared by someone on the first zodiac to arrive (and a way better camera)

 

Once we got in the protection of the bay it was calm waters. We saw numerous penguins and seals in the water and tons of sea birds. We saw King Penguins and lots of Macaroni Penguins on the side of the hill. We also saw nesting Black-browed and Grey-headed Albatrosses were in the Tusac Grass on the side of the hill. There were a lot of Fur Seals with pups and Elephant Seals. Many of the Elephant Seals were molting.

 I'm in the turquoise buff

 Antarctic Terns

 Antarctic Tern

 Fur Seal

 Elephant Seal & a Fur Seal

 Elephant Seal

 wallow of molting Elephant seals & 2 Fur Seal pups

 our ship between the rocks

 Macaroni Penguins on the hill

  Macaroni Penguins on the hill

 shared photo of Macaroni Penguins

 shared photo

 shared photo of nesting birds

 we are in the zodiac on the right

 Nesting Grey-headed & Black-browed Albatrosses

 waterfall

 Nesting Grey-headed & Black-browed Albatrosses

 Fur Seal

 Elephant Seal

 Elephant seals

 Fur Seal

Fur Seals & pups

This was our first zodiac cruise of the trip and I anticipated enjoying them a lot, but I sat beside someone who was a bit “neurotic” about taking photos. She kept bouncing up and down switching between 2 different cameras and at one point she even searched for an iPhone to take photos. She was second from the front and still felt she needed to lean forward so no one else could see anything. So, it was hard to enjoy the scenery with her constantly in front of me. (I’m happy to report that all the rest of the zodiac cruises were really great experiences.

After lunch we went on a hike on Salisbury Plain to see the second largest group of King Penguins. 10 years ago it was estimated that there were 60,000 pairs of King Penguins. Nikita said it’s probably 75,000 now. It was interesting to see the young ones molting with their adult coats underneath. We also saw a lot of Fur Seals and their pups. The smell of penguin poo from the colony wasn’t too bad. In spots it was a bit strong, but I just buried my nose in my buff.

These are some photos taken on deck waiting for our zodiac to be called:

 beautiful glaciers

 approaching Salisbury Plain

 Fur Seals in the water

 Shag flying by

 Fur Seal

 King Penguin in water

 lowering a zodiac into the ocean

 Seals & penguins on shore taken from the ship

 

Photos from our hike:

 views from the top of the hill

 all King Penguins.....

 King Penguin feet

 Skua

 Greg taking a photo of a Pipit

 South Georgia Pipit

 South Georgia Pintail Duck

 Skuas

 you don't look like my mom.....

 neither do you......

 nursing Fur Seal pup

 Hadleigh on the zodiac

 this is a shared photo by another passenger of mating penguins

 there was an "ugly penguin" contest - shared photo

 shared photo of juvenile King Penguin

gangway photo (shared)

Greg went to the top of the hill, but I only went part way up before turning around to spend more time among the penguins. The young are especially curious of us. Since not many ships go to South Georgia, we might have been the first “yellow jackets” they have ever seen.

Greg got drenched on the zodiac ride back in the afternoon. I saw the wave coming and turned my back, but he didn’t see it in time and despite only having a bit of the zipper down on his parka, the water made its’ way down and soaked his shirt and gloves.

Dessert again was in the lounge and was various cakes, pies and puddings since it was Christmas.

Here is the daily program:

Elsehul & Salisbury Plain

06:00 - 07:00 A Continental Breakfast is served in the Main Lounge

07:00 - 08:00 Breakfast is served in the Dining Room

TBA We plan to Zodiac cruise at Elsehul

Situated at the northwestern extremity of South Georgia on the eastern side of Paryadin Peninsula, Elsehul ia a beautiful little harbour with an astonishing array of wildlife. It is one of the few places on the island where colonies of black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses can be viewed from zodiacs within protection of sheltered inshore waters. 

1) Crean 2) McCarthy 3) Vincent 4) McNeish 5) Shackleton 6) Worsley

12:30 Lunch is served in the Dining Room

TBA We hope to land at Salisbury Plain

Salisbury Plain is on the southern shore of the Bay of Isles and was named by John Chaplin (Royal Navy surveyor from 1926-1930) who probably saw in the vast expanses a likeness to the place of the same name in England. The site features the second largest king penguin colony in South Georgia, breeding elephant seals, breeding fur seals and the Grace and Lucas Glaciers. At this time of the year, we can expect to see swarms of weaners (baby seals) dotting the beaches and wallows at the back of the beach jammed with noisy, smelly, molting adult seals. South Georgia is barely 10km wide at the Bay of Isles, and the 1000m peaks of Mt. Ashley offer little protection from the strong westerlies that blow in from King Haakon Bay on the other side of the island. Rapid changes in weather are not uncommon as winds are channeled down the Grace and Lucas Glaciers and hit the Salisbury Plain coastline with gale force fury. 

1) McCarthy 2) Vincent 3) McNeish 4) Shackleton 5) Worsley 6) Crean

18:30 Please join the Expedition Staff for a Re-cap & Briefing

19:30 Dinner is served in the Dining Room

“A first walk in any new country is one of the things which makes life on this planet worth being grateful for.” - Charles William Beebe 

Sunrise: 04:00 Sunset: 21:01

If you want to see way more Penguin & Seal photos check out the Picasa Web albums. At any rate they look better when you can see them full page size instead of the small ones I include here. https://picasaweb.google.com/AKanies 

Today was an amazing day. Well, fairly early to bed as we have another full day tomorrow in South Georgia.