King Penguins and Fur Seals

Our second day on the unparalleled island of South Georgia took us to Fortuna Bay in the morning and Stømness in the afternoon. After visiting the second largest King Penguin colony in South Georgia yesterday (Salisbury Plain) one might have thought that the much smaller colony at Fortuna would be of little interest. Far from it! First only a handful of people were able to land at Salisbury Plain due to very bad swell on the beach. Second, the Fortuna Bay colony though small, is more accessible and allows closer study of these amazing birds. So, you guessed it, we had an fantastic time at Fortuna! Landing conditions were excellent with little swell and a light wind so we were all able to see the colony this time! Halfway through the morning, fog rolled in from the Southern Ocean and shrouded the hillsides around the bay with heavy fog. This caused the Shackleton hike over to Strømness to be cancelled.

Once we landed, we hiked towards the colony though a gauntlet of Antarctic Fur Seals. This is Fur Seal breeding season, and the beaches were chock full of large males, their females, and the totally cute young pups.

The males were much more interested in fighting off other males and protecting their females so it was relatively easy to find a safe route through the fur seal colony and up above .

Many adult King Penguins were back in the colony getting ready to lay or feeding their full-grown chicks, and a few were still moulting. A few chicks were already showing their adult plumage but it will be a while before most will be ready to go! There was a constant din over the colony caused by singing adults and whistling youngsters. The King Penguin has to be one of the most handsome of birds!

It started raining in the morning and continued for most of our afternoon landing at Strømness. Regular readers of the Fram blog will know that there is a derelict whaling station at Strømness, which provides a frequent backdrop to the local wildlife. 

Few penguins breed at Strømness but this is made up for by dense fur seal colony along the entire beach. There is constant activity in a fur seal colony with males chasing other males and females fighting with their partners, all the while the tiny young pups sit underneath all this activity “hoping” they don’t get trampled. They occasionally do but they are clearly tougher than they look and usually come out of it unscathed. (Your faithful blogger can't resist showing another image of a pup!)

Dotted here and there amongst the tussac and on the beach were Elephant Seals of various ages. Many were moulting as evidenced by the patches of dead skin and hair (Elephant Seals moult a layer of skin as well as their hair).

Most of us made a hike up the valley behind Strømness to a beautiful waterfall. This is the last part of the hike Shackleton and his men made from Fortuna.

Salisbury Plain

After a great visit on the Falkland Islands, we pointed
the bow of M/S Fram towards southeast and sailed 
across the North Scotia Ridge, passing Shag rocks 

on the way. In the morning, two days and 766 nautical
miles later, the majestic South Georgia revealed itself 
on our starboard side and our aim was the stunning 
Salisbury Plain, furthest in in the Bay of Isles. 
This morning carried calm water and a beautiful 

sunny sky. The beach was full of fur seals, fighting 
and chasing each other and the enormous king penguin 
colony, which is the second biggest in South Georgia
with more than 60,000 pairs, was there to greet us 

and it was all beautifully framed with the 1,000m high 
peaks of Mt. Ashley with her two glaciers Grace and Lucas.

It showed that it would be more than a challenge to get 
ashore this morning, due to the heavy swell from the 
South Atlantic, and after many attempts we 
decided on a Polar-Cirkel boat cruise instead.

We cruised along the beach and enjoyed the scenery from 
what Salisbury Plain had to offer. There was elephant seals,
fur seals, king penguins, brown skuas, giant petrels, 
wandering albatrosses, not to forget the playfulness of the 
penguins and fur seals in the water, which was very amusing 
as well.

                             In the evening we enjoyed a well-deserved
                             dinner, while the captain heaved anchor for 
                             our new adventures tomorrow.

Guest blog from our trainee Thomas

Two sea days are coming to an end. After leaving the Falklands Thursday afternoon, we had nothing but the southern Atlantic ahead of us until we reached South Georgia, except for the characteristic Shag Rocks shooting up from the ocean north-west of South Georgia. Right after Shag Rocks we were lucky enough to see our first iceberg, and a really big one too, a tabular iceberg that’s floated all the way from Antarctica to greet us. A majestic sight for first timers like myself, and I can’t wait for more of them!

Sea days do not involve a landing, which means we stay on the boat, but there are still lots of things to be done! After breakfast our passengers can attend lectures in geology explaining, among other things, how South Georgia ended up where it is today, and also why it looks like it does. Lectures in biology teaches about South Georgia’s amazing wildlife with millions of birds, penguins and seals, while the history lectures focuses on what has happened on South Georgia since after its first discovery in 1665, including the whaling, sealing and later science taking place on the islands the past 150 years.

After lunch there are possibilities for more lectures, or you can take a walk out on deck and listen to and watch the sea, and the occasional black browed albatross or giant petrel might fly by on stiff wings. The sea has been remarkable good taking into consideration where we are in the world, after all the first Dutch sailers who discovered South Georgia got blown off course at Cape Horn several hundred, even thousand nautical miles away, before ending up there. Now on the other hand the wind is in our backs, and there is just a smooth, gentle swell, perfectly suited for rocking you to sleep at night…

Preparing for South Georgia also includes an introduction to the special regulations for these islands as well as Antarctica, where extra caution is needed in order to keep these areas pristine and especially not bring any new species of any kind to the islands. In order to do so there is a so called IAATO briefing telling us how to behave and what not to do, as well as physically removing all dirt and soil on all our boots, and also vacuuming out any traces of seeds or soil you might have in your backpack or on your clothes. The guests clearly got the message and were vacuuming thoroughly through the things they were planning on bringing ashore the next days, it’s good to see that they are aware of the risks involved and that they respect the very special areas we are lucky enough to be able to visit.

And yeah, we managed to squeeze in a fashion show Friday night as well, not exactly Victoria Secrets, but our swimming suits seem quite popular anyway!

Hasta la vista, við sjáumst! 

Stanley and surrounding areas

Dear readers,

We arrived in Stanley at 08:00 AM on 04/12/2014 after two perfect landings at West Point and Carcass Island. Once again, we were lucky with the weather. With an air temperature of 8.2 C° and a wind speed of 8.4 m/s, we were in for another comfortable day with picture perfect light.

 

 

The passengers were able to take a shuttle bus every 30 minutes from the pier to the center of Stanley, where many visited the landmarks and did some shopping.

 

 

 

 

Most of them chose to join an excursion to witness and learn about the breathtaking nature surrounding Stanley. These were the activities the passengers could do:

–                    Scenic Air Tour:

Six of the passengers joined a 35 minutes flying excursion over Stanley in a twin engine Britten-Norman Islander aircraft. We were able to get unique views of Stanley and its surrounding areas and learn a lot about the town. We got a real taste of the mountainous terrain, wild landscapes and natural coastal beauty. During the flight we got to see places like Gypsy Cove, Cape Pembroke, the lighthouse,  Lady Elizabeth shipwreck, Kidney Cove, Port Louise, Mount Tumbledown, Longdon, Two sisters and Harriet, Stone Runs, Fitzroy Farm and Bluff Cove Lagoon.

–                    Bluff Cove Lagoon:

This beautiful privately-owned farm with a pristine white wilderness beach is home to over 3000 Gentoo Penguins, and a small growing colony of King Penguins. We were only able to reach the site by four-wheel drive vehicles on a very exciting (in a bumpy way) safari! We did this with small groups of 4 people per car.  On the way we saw some Belted Galloway cows with calves that were peacefully grazing the fields of the property. We were greeted by the rangers who quickly informed us about the site and took us to see a very rare Leucistic (partial albino) Gentoo penguin.

We were lucky enough to meet Hattie (one of the owners) in their Sea Cabbage café. Hattie proudly showed us her Felt creations made with wool from their own sheep. After tea/coffee/hot chocolate and over 15 sorts of home-made cookies and cakes with Diddle Dee, we were ready for the wild ride back to the ship.

Photo by: Tom Warmolts

 

Photo by: Tessa Van Drie

 

 Photo by: Tessa Van Drie

 

Photo by: Tom Warmolts

–                    Falkland Nature Walk:

Our Expedition Team member Rudolf took our passengers on an exciting walk through the nature of the Falkland's with the help of two local guides. The tour was a great success and the passengers were very pleased. The nature in this part of the world is outstanding and a treat to the camera lens. Peter, one of the guides, is a former passenger of Fram and liked this place so much that he applied for a job and now works here! The other guide's name is Tom. He has a locally famous farther who makes picture calendars and is married to the daughter of Laurain from Carcass Island, where we were yesterday. Only to prove how everyone knows each-other in the Falkland Islands!

–                    Bird watching excursion:

On this hike over the upland areas south of Stanley we saw many species of birds, some of which were well into the breeding cycle and had chicks. This included the Speckled Teals, Rufous-chested Dotterel, and Upland Geese. Overall, we saw over 20 species of birds, and for many of us, these were lifers- the first time we had ever seen them.

Photo by: Tom Warmolts

At 4 PM Fram left Stanley and started the journey to South Georgia. When we sailed out of the port, we were able to see a few colonies of (amongst others) Magellanic Penguins.

Welcome to Falkland Islands

We spent the day yesterday on sea towards the Falklands islands – getting prepared for the landings: Briefings were held, jackets handed out, rubber boots rented, so that nothing is missing when we get to West Point in the morning, our first landing on the Falkland Islands!

And what a beautiful sunny day was ahead of us: At about 8:30 in the morning we dropped the first Polar Cirkel Boats into the water and made our way to the jetty where Thiez & Kiki and two helpers awaited us. A gentle walk over green meadows led us to the Devil’s Nose on the other side, with hundreds of Black-browed Albatrosses and Rockhopper Penguins! It was a coming and going in the colonies, the albatrosses flew so close over our heads, you nearly could touch them!

But also on the walk to and from our landing site were lots of birds to see: Caracaras, Kelp Geese, Steamer Ducks, Oystercatchers and so on. Down at the landing site Peale’s Dolphins were playing in the waves and a huge flock of Upland Geese were bathing and swimming.

In the cottage of Thiez and Kiki heaps and loads of homemade cookies were waiting for the hikers, what a treat! The Turkey Vultures on the roof top were looking almost a bit “jealous” down at us.

In the afternoon we sailed on to Carcass Island. Whoever felt for a longer “leg-stretcher” went on a hike to Leopard Beach and back. The white sandy beach there was just full with Magellanic and Gentoo Penguins, and out on the water the penguins were porpoising, a great spectacle, everywhere something to see!

The evening sun was shining from the blue sky when we went back – not without a stop at the cottage of Rob and Lorraine McGill where we got served – guess what – heaps of delicious cookies.

What a great start for our Antarctica Expedition!

The start of something big

So here we are on the Beagle Channel, named after the HMS Beagle, captained by Pringle Stokes in the 1826-30. The ship, which became famous later for transporting Charles Darwin on his life-changing trip through South America, was making surveys of parts of the South American coast, along with another, HMS Adventure under Capt. King. Sadly, Capt. Stokes committed suicide after a lengthy bout of depression. Robert Fitzroy was meteorologist on the Beagle and was eventually promoted to master.  It was on the second voyage of the Beagle around the world- 1831-1836- that Fitzroy took Darwin along as a companion. Arguably, the most brilliant biologist and naturalist ever to have lived, Darwin went on to write the famous “Origin of Species” and many other seminal works.

The channel is an amazing place, bordered to the north by Chile and Argentina and to the south by various Chilean islands. The land is clad with dank Southern Beech forest and at higher elevations above the treeline, snow fields were still prominent.  You could smell the beech in the air!

Of course, the Beagle Channel is familiar to Fram because we start and end most of our cruises to Antarctica from Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world. “USH” sits on the north shore of the channel.

Today was the start of our third cruise this Antarctic summer season. We have a full ship of eager passengers looking forward to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica. First days are always tough. People are tired after traveling so far (Ushuaia is a long way from anywhere!) and all they want to do is settle into their cabins for a good rest before starting the trip. Before that could happen though, a few things need to be done such as the important safety briefing and also the enjoyable Captain’s welcome reception.

As we sailed east down the Beagle, the mountains, clouds and sun made for dramatic scenery everywhere you looked. What a great way to start our trip!