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SOUTH GEORGIA 6 - 28 JANUARY 2001 Trip Report by Dave Farrow dave@shortwing.co.uk Norwich UK Oh boy! How can I describe such a wonderful trip? This was a fantastic example of an Antarctic adventure; we made 24 beach landings plus twelve zodiac cruises in and out of some of the most spectacular sights on the planet. Our beloved if curiously-shaped Ice-Breaker Kapitan ranitsyn proved to be the ideal vessel for us; strong, roomy and luxurious. The expedition staff worked hard and did an excellent job, as did all the German hotel staff and the friendly Russian crew. We arrived in the world's southernmost town of Ushuaia after a very long but comfortable journey, to the beautiful environs of our hotel where our first birding forays found Black-faced Ibis, Blackish and Magellanic Oystercatchers, and both Flying and Flightless Steamer Ducks. A warm morning walk took us up the Martial valley, through the beautiful woods of Antarctic Beech, where Southern House Wrens and Thorn-tailed Rayaditos zipped about, a Red-backed Hawk sat on the mountainside and Patagonian Sierra Finches sang from the treetops. A pair of handsome Yellow-bridled Finches hopped about on the high scree slopes, along with both Dark-faced and Ochre-naped Ground Tyrants. The time came to board the Kapitan Dranitsyn and join our fellow expeditionaries to the white continent, and off we sailed down the Beagle Channel. We squeezed in some birding from the deck between all the drills and welcome speeches, and saw Magellanic Penguins, Imperial Shags, Chilean Skuas and South American Terns, and picked out a few of the tiny looking Magellanic Diving Petrels. Our first full day on the ocean was gloriously calm, which meant that we were able to watch in comfort as Royal and Black-browed Albatrosses flew around the ship, with myriads of Wilson's Storm Petrels, Slender-billed Prions and Sooty Shearwaters, and our first White-chinned Petrels. We had brief views of a scarce Grey-backed Storm Petrel that paused to peck at some floating kelp, and to round off an excellent day we were joined by four Peale's dolphins briefly bow-riding the ship. Dawn found us anchored at New Island in West Falkland, and we were blessed with glorious weather as we made two landings by zodiac to make nice walks to teeming colonies of Black-browed Albatrosses, Imperial Shags and Rockhopper Penguins. Standing separate from these were our first rookeries of Gentoo Penguins, with mischievous Striated Caracaras loping through them. Also we found Snowy Sheathbills on the beach, Magellanic Penguins in their burrows, Ruddy-headed Geese in a large moulting party on an isolated beach, brightly coloured Long-tailed Meadowlarks and the demure Blackish Cinclodes. At Port Stanley we peeled off from the main group and set about birding the 'camp' to the east of the town. Gorgeous Canary-winged Finches sang from outcrops, and we soon found our target of Rufous-chested Dotterels, their numbers running into double figures with adults, fully grown juveniles, a tiny but mobile chick and a discreet nest with two eggs in it. The beach had some handsome Two-banded Plovers alongside White-rumped Sandpipers, and a pair of Grass Wrens popped out of the grassy dunes. We trekked back to town for lunch, shopping and probably a drink or two in the local taverns, before it was time to return to the ship, and once we had completed bunkering set sail for South Georgia. Two days at sea would normally entail some trepidation amongst the less sea-worthy among us, yet we were again fortunate to have the calmest of seas that enabled us to maintain a (dry) vigil in the bow of our mighty ship, and watch the birds in comfort. We were shadowed by numerous Wandering Albatrosses, joined by singletons of Grey-headed and our first Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, several Soft-plumaged Petrels, and Black-bellied Storm Petrels appeared as we approached the colder water. As we reached the Antarctic convergence, the calm sea was shrouded in fog and the nearby Shag Rocks pungent yet invisible. Huge flocks of White-chinned Petrels and Albatrosses on the sea were put to flight as the ship approached, and the Slender-billed Prions gave way to incredibly numerous Antarctic Prions that covered the ocean. We arrived at the west end of South Georgia ready for a morning cruise at Elsehul Bay which had numerous Grey-headed Albatrosses close inshore, but a heavy swell forced us to reposition to the relative shelter of the Bay of Isles. Here we made our first landing at the wonderful Salisbury Plain, where 100,000 King Penguins were huddled together in one vast colony stretching from the beach to well up the hillside, and our first encounters with the abundant Antarctic Fur Seals yapping away. A bumpy zodiac ride took us to Albatross Island where for fifteen minutes some of our number were able to walk up to and admire a superb Wandering Albatross on its nest, plus the ultimate LBJ, the endemic South Georgia Pipit that flitted in and out of the tussock, that is until the snow came down in near horizontal blasts making everyone there and those still on the main landing beach scuttle back to the ship, in strong winds and heavy swell we enjoyed an invigorating ride back to the ship and a rather scary re-boarding of the ship's gangway. We sailed on overnight towards Fortuna Bay and made a pre-breakfast landing there, finding more King Penguins, and then moved up the coast to Leith Harbour and Stromness, the rusting shells of the old whaling stations. Many of us took a slippery but welcome walk for an hour between the two before returning to the ship. Our next stop was the old whaling station of Grytviken, where we assembled at Shackleton's grave-side and drank rum to honour his memory, visited the church and the museum before returning to the ship for a wondrously spectacular sunset and a barbecue on the helicopter deck, with the fantastic backdrop of South Georgia mountains and glaciers behind us. Our last day around this spectacular island was foggy and still, and we made a landing at Gold Harbour where the King Penguins were lit by bright sunshine and the Elephant Seals wallowed in noisy belching bunches. The grassy cliffs above them were home to nesting Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses, and these beauties could be seen flying up and down in synchronised aerial ballet, while others uttered their mournful call to their mates who were on the wing. This was to be our last landing in South Georgia, and suitably was one of the best, as our final one had to be aborted due to rough seas. Minutes after three zodiacs made it ashore at Cooper Bay, they had to turn around and return, providing the spectators still aboard with an exciting view of the harrowing r e-boarding of the ship in a mighty swell. Compensation for the people left aboard came in the form of a pod of four mighty Orca that sailed by. Onwards and southwards, the following day was marked by numerous Blue Petrels and staggering numbers of Fin Whales, memorably a group of six that the Captain stopped the ship for and circled them as they dived and
species of cetacean on this day came in the form of two Southern Bottlenose Whales that raced in towards the bow, breaking the surface enough to show their strange beaks and melon heads. We headed into a barely noticeable force eight blow, and by the morning we were cruising slowly between splendid icebergs and into the seldom-visited South Orkneys. We made a landing at Shingle Cove on Coronation Island, where we found our first colony of Adelie Penguins, comical parents with hungry chicks in hot pursuit, plus one sorry-looking Macaroni Penguin. We left these islands in fog, and headed westward and into the night. Emerging in the Bransfield Straits with Clarence Island looming tall, the early risers had splendid views of three Humpback Whales feeding just in front of the ship. We made for Cape Lookout on Elephant Island, where a long bumpy ride took us into the landing site, once again with fine weather that made this difficult landing possible. Here the dapper Chinstrap Penguins ran to and fro, and a spectacular concentration of Cape Petrels was the prize for those passing in zodiacs, while plenty sat up on the crags on their nesting ledges. Macaroni Penguins were tucked away on the almost sheer sides of a rocky island adjacent to Cape Lookout, and we zodiac-cruised into the maelstrom of the 'washing machine', the zodiac drivers really showing us what they got paid for with outstanding displays of skilled and controlled manoeuvring. We headed south from here, a beautiful sunny afternoon with Antarctic Fulmars circling the ship. Just after supper we reached the first ice where this mighty icebreaker could display its real purpose, and we crunched through several miles in the orange twilight, flushing numerous Leopard Seals laid up on the ice, and Snow Petrels that buzzed around almost invisible in the white landscape. A fine display of teamwork by this group was not however matched in results, as we maintained an all night vigil in shifts in the hope of spotting the elusive Emperor Penguin on the ice, but after a welcome breakfast we reached Paulet Island, home of the largest Adelie Penguin colony in this part of Antarctica. Like an infestation, they scuttled about their business as we watched spellbound. Next was our first continent landing (on the auspicious date of 20.01.2001) at Brown Bluff. This was another colony of Adelie Penguins, that lined up in ranks on the beach before their mass excursions, safety in numbers no doubt as on the ice floes just offshore the Leopard Seals lounged like lizards, one being benign enough to allow very close approach by zodiacs, leering at the humans with his big reptilian smile. We re-crossed the Bransfield Straits to arrive at the spectacular horseshoe caldera of Deception Island, in time for a pre-breakfast 'swim' in the thermal heated strip of water on the tideline. A few brave souls took the plunge, to be later rewarded with a certificate for foolishness (some claimed it to be little different to English beaches on a summers day!) We made another landing at Whalers Bay, before departing for Hannah Point on Livingston Island, where a colony of Gentoos and Chinstraps were memorable for the fact that they really reeked to high heaven. The surrounding ocean was home to several Humpback Whales, one of which put on an impressive (if distant) display of full body breaching, the splash created visible from great range. Once again we crossed the Bransfield Straits during the pallid austral night, and by morning found ourselves at the Paradise Bay, one of the most scenic spots on our entire route. We had a zodiac cruise through the brash ice around the fringes of the glacier with its many forms and colours, and made our second continent landing here at the Almirante Brown station. One of the highlights had to be the tobogganing on our backsides down a steep snowy slope! Next stop was Cuverville Island, with numerous Gentoo Penguins and our first concentration of South Polar Skuas. After an early supper of pizza we made an evening landing for our third and final continental landing at Neko Harbour, a superb end to a great day, and we sat enjoying the calm view and glassy seas waiting in vain for the glaciers to calve. Well the days seemed to just get better and better, and our last day in Antarctica was no exception. After an early cruise through the spectacular Lemaire Channel we made a zodiac cruise around Pleneau Bay, where numerous icebergs had grounded and foundered in the shallow water creating a grotto of ice sculptures, a gallery of intense blues and greens. Crabeater Seals lounged nonchalantly on ice floes so close we could have reached and touched them had we wished, and a few Minke Whales made brief appearances as they moved stealthily in and around the ice. It was all just so breathtaking. Another landing nearby at Petermann island was for our last Adelie Penguin colony, and then on to the last posting and shopping opportunities at the wooden huts of Port Lockroy, with the added diversion of more Gentoo Penguins at the nearby Jougla Point. We celebrated our last night in Antarctica with a fine BBQ on the heli-deck, with guests joining our feast from the (very basic!) Port Lockroy station. We headed out to sea which was mercifully calm at first, yet strangely quiet for birds. Drawing closer to Cape Horn, the swell grew and the ship was rolling at least 25 degrees, making for some comedy moments as we staggered around the ship. Then the sea really began to roar, and our drinks flew in all directions as we tried to eat lunch. The wind got up to a frightening Force 12 hurricane, the ship rolled more and the Captain ordered all passengers to their cabins. As my cabin was on the top-deck, I stayed firmly wedged in the bar while I watched the alternating view of sky-sea-sky-sea-sky etc, through the windows. The waves rose to 9 metres, the ship rolled to 50 degrees in each direction and the captain put out a 'ship-in-distress' call as we raced for the lee of Cape Horn and into Chilean waters (against the wishes of the host country!) Then the excitement was over, the sea calm again and we powered our way to Ushuaia amid much revelry, celebrating with gusto what had been a remarkably successful expedition. We punctuated our homeward journey with some very pleasant birding. Around Ushuaia we found numerous shorebirds, Baird's and White-rumped Sandpipers, more Rufous-chested Dotterels, both Blackish and Magellanic Oystercatchers, Austral Negrito, and Bar-winged and Dark-bellied Cinclodes. In Buenos Aires we had a hot and exciting morning at Costanera Sur nature reserve where numerous new birds we seen by the party, highlights perhaps being the Glittering-bellied Emerald that perched up for us, a stunning Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Spectacled Tyrants, Fork-tailed Flycatchers and a pair of Brazilian Ducks. And then it was time to leave, a sad moment after such a great voyage with great company, truly a unique and unforgettable experience. |
