James’ and Sara’s Excellent Antarctica Adventure

Day 9: Gold Harbour, South Georgia island

This is what we woke up to…..stunning mountains and glaciers in Gold Harbour.

Today we took zodiacs to the beach to visit the wildlife …..mainly King penguins, some Gentoo penguins, fur seals and most mesmerising of all, the very large elephant seals. These bull elephant seals, all weighing about 2.5 tonnes could be mistaken for rocks piled on top of each other

These seals are undergoing their molt and they lie piled up often in muddy, stinking wallows to keep warm until their new coat grows

The bull(male) elephant seals come ashore on the breeding beaches in early September and mark out their territory. They are joined a couple of weeks later by the cows(female) who gather in groups or “harems” presided over by a bull called a “beachmaster”. These harems average about 70 cows ( who presumably fit in the territory marked out by the beachmaster). If another bull challenges, the two bulls roar at each other or engage in fierce fighting. The seals in the video below are apparently practising how to fight. See how they joust each other…amazing!

This elephant seal is giving himself a good scratch….and his fin looks almost like a human hand.

Here are a couple of the elephant seals having a good yawn. Look how pink their mouths are

And here’s some photos of james and I (just so you know that I was really there!). As you can see it’s fairly cold…..

awaywiththebirds

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8 responses to “James’ and Sara’s Excellent Antarctica Adventure”

  3. Loving all the blogs; the beautiful photos and videos (yes, you do seem to be close to those seals), and the history and geography lessons. Pleased to see Sara has finally got dressed in warmer clothes!

  4. Loving your blogs, Sara, thank you for the photos and info. I look forward to seeing them each morning (Canadian time) with my coffee. What an amazing experience … tempted to go there too.

  5. As always, interesting and informative. It is quite amazing that these animals don’t mind that humans get so close to them.
    You and James must be having a real blast – we feel like we are there with you xxxx

  8. My sister is passing on the beautiful photos and videos. I hope these voyages help protect these natural wonders. The glaciers look a little bit shrunken and bare. I remember similar sights in the Arctic! The shots are breathtaking – glad we don’t get the smells as well. Love Dinah