Today started early as National Geographic Explorer moved from its anchorage in Rosita Harbour to Right Whale Bay. The ship felt some of the force of the storm that is raging all around us, and we rolled into the bay hoping to find some shelter from the wind and make a landing. As the ship nudged its way slowly into the bay, it became obvious to all who were watching on the bridge, that this was not to be. The wind was blowing 35 knots straight out of the bay, with gusts of 50 knots from time to time. It was an impressive sight from the bridge, as the whitecaps were whipped from the top of waves, and the water in the waterfall on the edge of the bay was blown sideways in torn sheets of spray.
None of this seemed to bother the king penguins, whose colony could be seen on the southern edge of the bay. Occasional rafts of the penguins would swim in and out of the surf, in among the cavorting fur seals, who were enjoying the conditions, and showing off leaping about in the waves. Giant petrels flew undeterred by the wind, and the tiny Wilson’s storm petrels could also be seen skimming the surface of the sea.
There could be no landing while such conditions prevailed, so the morning was given over to lectures in the lounge. The first was given by Dr. Kendrick Taylor, the Global Perspectives guest speaker. In previous lectures on this expedition, Dr. Taylor explained the scientific methods used to understand Climate Change, and what this might lead to. Today’s lecture dealt with what options are available if we are to try to tackle the problem.
In the afternoon, the photographic team were on hand to give advice to guests, on how to improve their pictures. And Joel, one of the guests on board, gave us a very interesting talk on his recent adventure, where he was with a team that followed Shackleton’s footsteps across South Georgia from King Haakon Bay to Stromness.
Just as we were getting ready for cocktails in the lounge, Russ decided the wind had dropped enough for us to attempt a landing. After a short period of scurrying and dressing and putting Zodiacs on the water, 86 stalwart guests accepted the challenge and were ferried ashore to see the king penguin colony and the abundant fur seal pups. It was a fitting end to our visit to the wonderful island of South Georgia.
