Salisbury Plain, South Georgia

Calm at last!  Arrived at Salisbury Plain in South Georgia late due to heavy fog during the night. Zodiacs crews were sent out to find a suitable landing spot and unfortunately the nearest was too windy so we were taken further and then had a 2 1/2 km walk to see the penguins en masse.  Salisbury Plain is the site of a very large King Penguin colony and there are also thousands of Fur Seals and Elephant Seals. The King penguin is the second largest species of penguin and grows to between 70 and 100 cm tall. They weigh 11 to 16 kg.  The Emperor Penguin is bigger but I don’t think we’ll be seeing them. As we were approaching Salisbury Plain this morning the sea was alive with wildlife - seals everywhere, diving into the waves, penguins fishing and seemingly flying (they actually don’t fly) through the air in groups, and we also saw a whale right near the ship.  Some interesting facts: the majority of dives undertaken by King penguins are flat bottomed, that is, the penguin dives to a certain depth and remains there for a period of time hunting, roughly 50% of the total dive time before returning to the surface.  It’s average swimming speed is 6.5 - 10 kms ph.  They eat small fish and squid and some krill.  

So, it was our turn eventually to board the Zodiac and boy! was it a great ride to the shore!  Big waves, plenty of spray and I had to pinch myself that I was in the Antarctic and not at Lorne or Beachport!!!!! We were welcomed by hundreds of seal pups and penguins, all very curious, particularly the pups.  They were so cute with their big eyes and I truly think they would have enjoyed a cuddle!  But mother seal was probably in the background watching.  We walked the 2 1/2 Kms to view the main body of penguins and it’s hard to imagine how massive the colony is.  Overwhelming in fact!  So many pairs of penguins, some still malting, and the young ones still have their full brown coverage of feathers.  And the noise!  All chattering, obviously understanding each other!!!  Along the walk were seals and other penguins of course, and some of the seals were following us in a semi aggressive way.  The pups were harmless but you wouldn’t want to get a bite from a mature seal.  In the background were two glaciers - both receding very rapidly unfortunately.  

So, what goes up must come down and the same goes for the long walk back through mud and slush and shallow creeks.  The mud was halfway up our boots in places and a lady I was walking with fell - she went down on her knees so really didn’t get too dirty but guess who was next!!!  Yes, the mud was also VERY slippery & in a strong gust of wind I lost my footing and went down face first!  Had mud and slime all over my hands and jacket and it felt pretty disgusting as nowhere to wash it off till I got back on the ship!  I certainly wasn’t about to get in the pond with the seals LOL!!!

This afternoon an excursion has just been cancelled due to strong winds.  This was to be at Prion Island, named because of the Antarctic Prions which nest here.  Wandering Albatrosses also nest here and there are fur seals as well.  

We’ll be in this area for a couple more days and will have more excursions tomorrow.  Will send some pics as emails if possible.