We were stood down at our planned landing as the gale force winds hammering down the glacier were clearly too dangerous to put the zodiacs in the water. We headed off to breakfast in the hope that the wind speed would half from the sixty to seventy mph early morning winds. Sometimes that can happen in an hour or two. However, it was clear by the time that we were finishing breakfast, that this wasn't the case. As often needed in South Georgia, the Expedition Leader Ali had a plan B and we were soon heading onto the nearby bay at Stromness. Fortunately, we were the only Expedition ship in this part of South Georgia at the time and a change of venue could be quickly agreed with the South Georgia authorities. We arrived to find the wind was still strong, but it quickly calmed down enough to land.
The derelict whaling station: It was a much larger whaling station that the one at Prince Olav Harbour
The view of the whaling station from the beach
The buildings aren't in great shape
Clearly the winds have taken their toll over the decades
It was certainly a large whaling station
There were some large propellers on the beach: Just as we saw at Prince Olav Harbour
We weren't going to be able to get any closer: Quite wise given the lack of maintenance with the whaling stations, as well as, the asbestos etc. But it will also reduce the risk of damage to these historical sites by tourists trying to explore them or maybe even to take items away as souvenirs
There were scattered groups of Antarctic Fur Seals and Southern Elephant Seals along the beach and with part of the beach being out of bounds, it meant individuals in that area weren't disturbed. But all the ones I saw weren't bothered by the visitors. However, earlier in the breeding season the Male Southern Elephant Seals can be more dangerous when they are fighting each other for the Females. There was a leucistic Antarctic Fur Seal pup which proved to be very popular, as it was very photogenic.
Antarctic Fur Seal: I had seen one of these leucistic Antarctic Fur Seal pups in the Prince Olav Harbour from the zodiac, but now we had a photogenic pup on the beach
Antarctic Fur Seal: This leucistic Antarctic Fur Seal pup was very popular as it was very photogenic
Antarctic Fur Seal: They looked very glossy when they had just come out of the water
After photographing the leucistic Antarctic Fur Seal and the whaling station at a distance, we had all the passengers ashore. One of the options was to walk to Shackleton's Waterfall with some of the Expedition staff. I was obviously keen on this idea, which also had the bonus of getting the chance to stretch my legs, even if it was only a three mile round walk. There were Penguins and Seals along the walk along the floodplain.
King Penguin: There were about one hundred and fifty King Penguins at Stromness
Gentoo Penguin: This Gentoo Penguin was just enjoying a kip in the sun
Antarctic Fur Seal: They have some sharp teeth on them. Another reason for keeping a good distance with them. When I went to the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands in 2001, one of the Kiwi Wildlife team was unlucky to be bitten by a Seal on Macquarie Island: it had walked up behind her without her realising. Maybe some Australian foreplay. Fortunately, not a serious bite, but an incident that always made sure I was keeping a reasonable distance from the adults
Southern Elephant Seal: They are beach body ready providing the beach is in the Southern Oceans
Southern Elephant Seal: There were Southern Elephant Seals scattered throughout the floodplain
Personally, I was happy with this change of venue as Stromness is an important site in the Shackleton story. It was the whaling station that Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean finally walked into, after their epic boat crossing of the Drake Passage from Elephant Island. They finally reached South Georgia on the rough South coast at King Haakan Bay. Their small boat was sufficiently damaged in the landing to be unable to put back to sea in it.
Heading across the floodplain towards Shackleton's Waterfall
Shackleton took his two strongest companions and despite not having proper climbing equipment, they made the first crossing of South Georgia's mountains. Finally, after twenty-eight hours of walking, they heard the hooter at Stromness to call the whalers to work. But it was another eight hours of descending and walking before they finally walked into the Stromness whaling station. I wrote a Blog Post after my first visit about Shackleton, Wild, Worsley & Crean.
It was good to be able to stretch our legs on this walk
This was their first contact with the outside world since they left South Georgia, eighteen months earlier. A boat rescued Shackleton's three companions from King Haakan Bay the following day. It was to take three attempts over the next three months from South America, before Shackleton finally managed to rescue the rest of his stranded crew on Elephant Island. More of that in a future Blog Post.
Looking back towards the whaling station and the Plancius
There is still a way to go till we got to the waterfall
Finally, we reached Shackleton's Waterfall.
Shackleton's Waterfall: This would have looked more impressive in Shackleton's day given the colder weather. Also, Shackleton arrived at Stromness in mid-May, so it would have been well into the Winter for him
Back on the beach, I spent some time photographing some of the Wilson's Storm-petrels that were feeding just off the water's edge.
Brown Skua: This Brown Skua flew past close to the beach
Gentoo Penguin: This Gentoo Penguin was confident at walking through the Antarctic Fur Seal pups
We still had a bit of time left & I wasn't in a hurry to get back into a zodiac
The Expedition Leader Ali: Ali did an excellent job of running the expedition
Doc Marieke was a Dutch GP: The ship's doctor usually had a great time, when things were going well. But it can be a very tough role, if there is a major injury onboard and the doc has to tell the Captain to turn the ship around to head to the nearest proper hospital. Fortunately, I've not been on a ship where that has occurred, but I'm aware of a few instances where its happened
Boots cleaning is vital on every landing: We cleaned our boots on the ship before we landed. They were cleaned before reboarding the zodiac & cleaned again once we were back on the ship. This is designed to minimise transfer of plant seeds and bugs from one colony to another. It's will be even more important now that Bird Flu has reached the Southern Oceans
this was an easy departure from the beach: Sometimes the water can be quite rough and it's essential to get back onto the zodiac as quickly as possible, to help the expedition team who are trying to hold the zodiac at the water's edge
It had been a great morning and we were heading for Grytviken for the afternoon. If the weather held that would be fantastic to see Grytviken in the sunshine.
