This bowl-shaped indention in the northern shore of South Georgia Island was named in the early 1900s for a Norwegian whaling ship that sought shelter from foul weather. We sought that same shelter this morning and found enough of a lee to have a successful if slightly damp morning of Zodiac cruising.
More than one guest confessed to having doubts about going out, but they added afterwards the rewards were worth the effort. We added a new species of penguin to our growing list. Scattered amongst the steep tussac grass studded hillsides were Macaroni penguins. Slightly larger than the rockhopper penguins we saw on our first day of the Falkland islands, the Macaronis had a full headdress of lovely yellow plumes cascading from their brows. Perched on the cliff sides we also found a sprinkling of blue-eyed shags, a few snowy sheathbills, kelp gulls, and Antarctic terns. On the small cobbled beaches king penguins mixed amiably with gentoo penguins and Antarctic fur seals seemed to leave the few Southern elephant seals well enough alone. Above our heads the silhouettes of light-mantled sooty albatross flew in courtship pair formation.
The clear waters of the bay held two distinctive species of kelp. One, attached to the shoreline rocks, undulated with the surge and brought to mind one of its names of “mermaids hair.” Someone else thought it looked more like a bowl of writhing spaghetti.
We repositioned a short distance to Fortuna Bay for an afternoon amongst the king penguin colony. Upon landing a scouting party, we found the southerly winds had made their way up and over the snowcapped peaks and came funneling down König Glacier, trying hard to blow us off the beach. Periodically saltwater was whipped into the air as the crests of the breaking waves on the beach were blown horizontally. With gusts being recorded at the ship of 35 knots and more, we abandoned this landing and snuggled back into the safety and warmth of our mother ship.
Tomorrow will be a new day, the winds may shift and we have the luxury of time to continue our explorations of the intricacies of South Georgia Island.
