I was excited that our first landing on my return trip to South Georgia was Salisbury Plain. This is a lovely site with about sixty thousand pairs of King Penguins in the colony. Fortunately, the weather turned out to be good for the morning. The weather can change rapidly in South Georgia and strong winds can whip up down the glaciers. So, we never knew for certain if we would be able to land until we reached our destination. It was also dry and sunny, which was nice, as my first visit was in the rain and a thirty mph wind.
It was interesting to see this member of the ship's bridge team using a sextant: In the modern world, the ship will have GPS positioning, but it makes sense that the team are still trained to use the older technology
Coming into Salisbury Plain bay
Antarctic Fur Seal: As we were dropping anchor, the first islanders popped out to check us out
Antarctic Fur Seal: Not everything that porpoises is a Dolphin
Looking left at the Lucus Glacier
Looking right at the Grace Glacier
Fortunately, the weather was looking good and we were quickly invited to queue for a zodiac, once the expedition team were ashore.
The Salisbury Plain beach
I'll be in the next zodiac
Approaching the beach: The sea was busy with Penguins and Seals. But we were approaching slowly into a relatively quiet part of the beach
The Expedition staff were there to direct us in & ensure we disembarked safely: Once the zodiac was held on the beach, passengers were told to swing over the bows end into the water one at a time. Getting off further back along the zodiac would mean going into the water at waist depth
King Penguin: The welcome committee were all smartly dressed
King Penguin: Looking along the beach towards main colony
Antarctic Fur Seal: There were also some Antarctic Fur Seals on the beach to welcome us
Antarctic Fur Seal: One of the bonuses of going later in the season, is the pups are independent of the mother, except for food and are happy to explore the beach. Like young children, they love playing in the water
Having dropped the life jackets off, we were free to explore along a path that the Expedition team had marked out with poles. This minimised the disturbance and also meant that is was easier to keep track of the passengers. There is always a risk on these landings, that a sudden change in the weather might mean we have to depart earlier than planned. So, being able to keep track of everybody is important.
King Penguin: They are gorgeous, incredibly inquisitive and not shy to approach to check us out. We were told not to approach closer than five metres to the Wildlife. But the Penguins and Seals will often come closer, if you stand still
King Penguin: In colder eras, this distant glacier would have continued down to the sea. As the Grace and Lucas glaciers have retreated, it has created a wide plain for the King Penguins and other Wildlife to occupy. As the largest flat area on South Georgia, there were plans to build an airport here. Fortunately, that plan was shelved. Hopefully, it will never be reconsidered now, given the importance of the site to the wildlife
King Penguin: Perhaps this King Penguin was wondering why the photographer just out of this photo had needed to take a tripod ashore to photograph them
King Penguin: This King Penguin is following the advice I was told on my first visit to South Georgia in 2018. It was put the camera down and just take in the scene using your eyes
King Penguin: They share the beach with some much larger Antarctic Fur Seal neighbours
Steve Preddy: Welsh Birder Steve was one of my cabin mates
I'm not sure about this selfie idea
Peter Morris: Notts-based Peter was one of about half a dozen keen Birders on the Plancius
There were a number of other South Georgian species at the site starting with the two endemics: although only one is regarded as a species.
South Georgia Pintail: This is the nominate georgica subspecies, but it remains an endemic subspecies of the widespread South American Yellow-billed Pintail
South Georgia Pintail: It was good to see the next generation
South Georgia Pipit: This is the only endemic on South Georgia and it's the only Passerine on the islands
There were a few scavenger species on the beach. The Skuas are the obvious scavengers to a European Birder. But both species of the Giant Petrels are also important scavengers which help to keep the colony clean, by feasting on dead Penguins and Seals.
Northern Giant Petrel: This monotypic species breeds on the Islands North of the Antarctic Convergence from South Georgia to Macquarie & the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands
Northern Giant Petrel: Time to stretch its wings: although, it didn't fly
Southern Giant Petrel: Scavenging isn't always a pretty sight, but it's an important job
Brown Skua: The Antarctic Fur Seal is looking healthy, so it's unlikely that the Brown Skua is planning to have a go at it. There will be plenty of other food opportunities in the area
Brown Skua with a few Antarctic Fur Seals
Brown Skua: This is the lonnbergi subspecies which breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia & circumpolar Subantarctic Islands, apart from the Falklands where it is replaced by the nominate antarcticus subspecies
Antarctic Fur Seal: For some pups, it was possible to enjoy time with mum
Antarctic Fur Seal: Others just had to wait for mum to return from the sea
Antarctic Fur Seal: Others found an easy way to cope with the waiting
Antarctic Fur Seal: This one was more awake
Antarctic Fur Seal: They have a very pointed head shape
Antarctic Fur Seal: These adults were also happy to have a kip as well in the reasonable weather
Antarctic Fur Seal: Fur Seals and Sea Lions have small external ears. Whereas, Elephant Seals and Seals have internal ears, without any external protruding ears
Salisbury Plain was a whaling base up to the 1960s. Fortunately, the old base has been removed and the bay has been returned to the wildlife. But even with the buildings removed, there are still signs of the whaling period.
This Whale vertebrae provides evidence of a more brutal past for Salisbury Plain
Another discarded Whale vertebrae
Antarctic Fur Seal: Male. During the whaling era, Antarctic Fur Seals in South Georgia were driven almost to extinction by the whalers. Fortunately, their population has recovered with estimates of between four and a half to six million individuals around South Georgia. South Georgia accounts for ninety-five percent of the world population, with smaller numbers found across all of the other main Subantarctic island groups
It had been a great first landing, but finally it was time to head back to the Plancius.
King Penguin: It was time to head back to the Plancius
Lunchtime on the ship: While Steve & I were getting fed, the ship was moving to our afternoon destination, Prince Olav Harbour. Our lovely waitress, Sofia kept the starboard side of the restaurant fed
