Report from “Scotty” the fur seal puppy:
It was windy and cold outside but we were out playing with the crystal clear bergy bits on the beach anyway, since this is what we do. Occasionally, we see the odd creature during our wanderings but this morning was a bit different. First of all, there was this large berg floating on the bay that had a yellow line painted around. Out of it came smaller black bergs with figures much like the penguins we regularly see on the beach but wearing something red and bright. We had no idea what they were until “Old” Eli, who had seen a lot of them, told us stories about these funny creatures that come every summer. They have very strange behaviors, these visitors, pointing flashy things at us and talking to us like we could understand them… but they seem to be harmless and very easily scared with a “warf warf” call. We tried to make them go into the water to play with us but they did not seem to like it, despite it being very warm today! A very strange type of seal they are, they don’t have fur or blubber and they don’t like to swim…
After a morning of hikes and beachcombing discoveries in Jason Harbor, we sailed the short hop to drop the hikers at Maiviken Bay. From there a few of us made a nice hike over a long saddle and a couple of alpine-looking lakes, ending by the church in Grytviken. A snowy and somehow melancholic afternoon set the perfect mood to explore the gloomy remains of the whaling station, the wonderfully displayed museum and, naturally, the cemetery where the remains of the “Boss” rest facing south, his only possible destination. Incredibly, his main achievement might not have been his extreme polar explorations but both his leadership and boundless optimism that time after time brought his men alive out of the most incredible situations. We toasted the man and presented our respects in different ways before heading back to National Geographic Explorer for a dinner to be shared with our new shipmates from the museum and the whole British Antarctic Survey team that will be wintering at King Edward Point.
