Today we started off with a Zodiac cruise in Hercules Bay. On blue-green water amongst the kelp, we were greeted with two new species of penguin, the macaroni and one lone chinstrap. The surf rolled in as we bobbed on the surface, watching the indecisive antics of these well-decorated penguins. They were up and down the rocky shore break, unsure of their desire to go to sea, occasionally falling in only to scurry back up the rock ledges again.
The surrounding mountaintops were dusted with a light blanket of snow and the low tussock hills were the backdrop to the flight of the light-mantled sooty albatross. Hercules Bay, with its steep cliffs and magnificent waterfall, is certainly one of the highlights of South Georgia.
For our afternoon, we anchored at Stromness, the iconic harbor that marked the end of Shakeltons’ epic voyage. We hiked up the valley to the very waterfall that Earnest Shakelton, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley descended in May of 1916 on their way to the now abandoned whaling station at Stromness. It is a humbling feeling to walk in the same footsteps as these legendary explorers, all the while thinking of what it must have been like after such a long and trying endeavor.
However, once back on the beach we had a frenzy of fur seal awaiting us. Nothing can wake you from a reverent silence like the spastic behaviors of hundreds of fur seal puppies cavorting in the surf! It must have been mom’s day out at Stromness today, with the pup mayhem that was going on there. Unattended puppies tumbling in every direction and all braver than their tiny size would suggest.
