Skua

Half Moon Island, South Shetlands

This Quark Expedition is sailing back north, heading toward the Drake Passage and Ushuaia, Argentina. This is our last landing for Antarctica. Tomorrow we will be reluctant tourists, leaving this unique, beautiful place.

But for now we will enjoy Half Moon, a 1.2 mile long island  between Livingston  and Greenwich Islands in the South Shetlands.

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beautiful lichen

The Argentine Camara station is located at one end

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Argentine Camara Station

and a Chinstrap penguin nesting area at the other.

Blue-eyed Shags nest on top of orange lichen pinnacles against glaciated mountains beyond. IMG_3040 (2)

Before landing, we bounced in the zodiacs over choppy waters, checking out seals, shags, and this very cheeky skua who landed right next to me.

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not sure if he wanted to be friends

On land, amongst the rocks, broken penguin shells led to a mother skua snuggling with her chick.

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A single Adele penguin approached me with a tilt of the head and a confused look in its eyes. “How do I get back home?” The poor thing was obviously lost, speaking in penguin before wandering off in search of a more appropriate friend. IMG_3104

An old whaling craft remains on the beach, another testament of history in this part of the world. IMG_5698

Half Moon Island is the breeding site of approximately 3,300 Chinstrap Penguins. Since this is our last landing, I spent time enjoying their antics and reflecting on all I’ve seen and learned.

I must admit to wiping a tear away, thinking about how much more there is to experience in this vast land.  This little penguin expressed my emotions back at me. IMG_3074

Before I left home, my friends asked strange questions . “WHY do you want to go there?” or “Where is that place….North or South pole?”

I hope my words and pictures have explained the wonders to be found here. More important, I hope I’ve inspired YOU to experience this adventure.

Good-bye from Antarctica.

This leaves a great big question—“Where shall I go next?” —trust me, I have a long list! Stay tuned. IMG_3068 (2)

 

 

Glowing Gold Harbor

Located on the Southeast side of South Georgia with the Bertrab Glacier hanging over soaring cliffs,img_1287 Gold Harbor is as beautiful as the metal, but not named for it. Instead, the moniker originated from sentimental sealers for the brilliant aura the sun casts on the cliffs in the morning and at sunset.img_1412

Waddling about in the bright green tussock grass are male Gentoo penguins searching for just the right color or shape of rock to offer his beloved(s). Some lonely females swoon with pleasure, when baby penguin daddy takes his turn to feed at sea. Pretty rocks are very tempting.

Drag your eyes from this telenovela, and listen to the crescendo of trumpeting King Penguins . Many stand tipped back on their heels with fur poofing over the egg balanced on their feet. Parents hatch one chick. It takes over a year (14 months) from egg to fledge, that’s a long time for a bird to be a parent. Usually long-lived animals are monogamous, but divorce for King Penguins is high. Time is of the essence when they return to breed. The survival rate for chicks is higher for early hatches. If last years mate is late–there ain’t no date.

Brown, fluffy juveniles hound their parents for food. Another interesting fact: in winter the juveniles live in “creches” and don’t eat when food is scarce, relying on their fat reserves. In spring, the parents resume feeding their young.

Molting makes the kid penguins look a wee rough. Too grungy. Strung out and seeking solace. Many act kind of goofy, running around in circles. Adolescence is hard on everyone, but flipper-flapping is exercise for when they can finally swim.

Closer to the beach, “weaner” elephant seals roar and wrestle, becoming strong too. They’ll be mature in four years, but it takes six to eight before they can fight hard enough to become beachmasters, and control an average harem of 70 cows. Being a ladies man requires hard work, resulting in a short life.

Patrolling the beach are bird predators: Skua (related to gulls) and Giant Petrals, with the illustrious reputation of  ‘vultures of the Antarctic’ for how they gorge on dead carrion.

 

 

St. Andrew’s Bay, “Weaner” Heaven

Are you lost? Check out this map . map_of_south-georgia-1We started in the Northeast of Georgia at Right whale Bay, followed by Salisbury Plain, Leith and Stomness whaling stations, and onward to Grytviken. Sailing down the coast, this stop is Saint Andrews Bay with the next submission from Gold Harbour. The final visits will be Drygalski Fjord and Cape Disappointment.

Our Quark Expedition itinerary states: “Thirty years ago, Cook Glacier terminated at the high water mark on the beach in a spectacular 30 meter (98 feet) high, 500 meter (546.8 yard) long ice cliff.” With recession and melting, we now see distinct glacier toes of Grace and Lucas glaciers between soaring ice-scraped rock. Saint Andrews Bay has the largest colony of King Penguins in the world (up to 500,000) and vast numbers of Elephant Seals. On this cloudy day, rougher waves made photography a challenge.

 

Imagine walking through a wide glacial plain, approached by the wildlife. The roar of sparring elephant seals echoes like distant thunder. There are so many animals and birds that I turn in circles, eyes and mouth open in wonder. img_0992

ELEPHANT SEALS:

Only the “weaners” (weaned young and some adolescents) remain on the beach this late December day.

Bull Seals are 13-16 feet long and weigh 4,500-8,000 pounds. These “beachmasters” left for a solitary ocean life as soon as mating was finished. Not good dads. The cows, a svelte 1,500 pounds and 10 ft long, only feed the pups for 28 days, during which time the youngsters gain over 300 pounds. Then they slink away, leaving too. Tough love at its finest.

Ten percent of (mostly male) weaners figure out how to steal milk, and become double-mother sucklers. They sneak in,  quietly push younger pups away until they are discovered.  The interlopers are promptly bitten, chased away and forced to live in juvenile pods where they nestle together for heat.

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Thermokinesis to keep warm

The weaners won’t leave the beach until after they molt— and hey—it gets chilly when skin  sheds, so thermokinesis is essential. This process can take two months and result in substantial weight loss, but it’s also when these hunky babes learn to swim.

molting Elephant Seal pup

Both males and females enjoy head-banging and pushing each other around. Mock fighting does involve biting and injuries do happen.

KING PENGUINS:

I got sucked into the mesmerizing vortex of watching these (second largest) colorful penguins.

 

They don’t build nests. Both parents take turns holding the egg on their feet, hidden under fur and nestled against bare skin. Average Kings weigh 33 pounds, average height is three feet. They raise two chicks every three years. Leopard Seals are the biggest predators ( more on them later) and Skuas eat unattended eggs or chicks.

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Skua, waiting for dining opportunities

 

 

“wooly” or “oakum”( named after caulking in old sailing ships) penguins appear larger than mature Kings. Once upon a time, researchers thought they were a separate breed, but they are juvenile Kings that haven’t molted yet. These guys relentlessly beg to be fed, but the parents have evasive maneuvers worthy of  Super Bowl contenders.

juvenile King moting
called Wooly Or Oakum at this stage

Once the juveniles get their plumage, they are waterproof and can fish for themselves. Molting makes them look like steam-punk rock stars, but behavior indicates a miserable process.

At St. Andrew’s, many weaners and King penguins aren’t afraid to approach. If you put down gear, they will climb on it. If you stand in one place too long, they will climb on top of your boots. They seem curious, checking us out. One of my friends thought a weaner tried to kiss her. I said, “Nope. It’s a test to see if you’ll lay down and breastfeed.”

Other critters on the beach: Fur seals above. Below: Petrals and Vladimir with a group of us reflected in his ski goggles (couldn’t resist). An amazing place to be, folks! Quite an honor.

 

 

 

 

 

Westpoint and Saunders Island Landings

Two days out of Ushuaia, Argentina enroute to the West Falkland weren’t spent sleeping, starting with 7:45 a.m. wake-up calls. The Marine animal specialist, Annie, did presentations on seals and whales while our ornithologist, Adrian, helped us identify birds of the Falklands and South Georgia Islands. Acacia, our photography guide taught us how to capture the perfect photo. Woody presented the history of the Falkland islands.

They tried to prepare us for the amazing experience on our morning landing at Westpoint Island and the afternoon landing at Saunders, which was quite the task. Westpoint has a booming summer population of four people and black-browed nesting Albatross and Rockhopper penguins by the thousands along the cliffs. We had to be careful walking to not step on these smallest (but most noisy) penguins or the endangered albatross that mate for life with their partners.

In the afternoon, the ship sailed to Saunders Island, site of the first English settlement in 1765. It is now home to 11,000 breeding pairs of black-browed albatross and five penguin species. The way I keep them straight:

Rockhopper–noisy and yellow brows

Gentoo–look like they have red lipstick and they are quite funny to watch as they steal rocks from other nests. They are quite animated.

Megellanic–live in burrows and bray like a donkey

Macaroni–Have a Donald Trump hairstyle and other mannerisms of the Trumpster.

King–tallest penguin in the Falklands (only the emperor is bigger) with orange markings. Juveniles are fluffy brown and must molt before they can enter the water to eat. Some of them are larger than their parents. Apparently, molting is a miserable experience as they seem to be shunned or perhaps depressed.

 

We also saw whale bones above the beach and two predators–the Skua looking so sweet with the baby chick (but they are quite vicious) and the Striated Caracara just waiting for a baby penguin left alone.