The plan for the day was a zodiac trip around Cooper Bay at the South Eastern end of South Georgia, followed by a cruise along the Drygalski Fjord in the Plancius. We checked out Cooper Bay before breakfast, but it was clear that the water was too choppy to safely use the zodiacs. We hung around for a while to see if the seas moderated. I switched to Plan B: a quick breakfast, as I didn't think the sea looked like it would improve. It didn't and I was heading back to the bridge wing as the Expedition Leader Ali confirmed that we would head to the nearby Drygalski Fjord and have a slow cruise along the Fjord. This wonderful Fjord is nine miles long and has the Risting Glacier and Jenkins Glacier at the far end.
The coast around Cooper Bay
It was a shame we couldn't get into the zodiacs here as King, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Macaroni Penguins all breed in the area. However, for those of us who had a quick breakfast, we managed to see them as we were heading for the Drygalski Fjord.
Chinstrap Penguin with three Macaroni Penguins
Chinstrap Penguin with three Macaroni Penguins: Better views of the three Macaroni Penguins, while the Chinstrap Penguin isn't identifiable in this second photo
Chinstrap Penguin: This monotypic species breeds in the Antarctic Peninsula & the adjacent islands, including South Georgia
Chinstrap Penguin: They are a striking Penguin
Macaroni Penguin: This monotypic species breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula, the Falklands, South Georgia, Kerguelen & Heard Islands
King Penguin: There were some King Penguins in the water
I saw an estimated twenty thousand Antarctic Prions as we headed for the Drygalski Fjord.
Antarctic Prion: The sea was full of Antarctic Prions
Antarctic Prion: Twenty thousand Antarctic Prions isn't many considering there are around twenty-two million pairs breeding in South Georgia
Antarctic Prion: The darker grey chest patch, the heavier bill and a stronger M on the upperparts help to separate this species from the Slender-billed Prions that we had seen in the milder waters around the Falklands
Antarctic Prion: Clements states these are the South Georgian banksi subspecies, with the nominate desolata subspecies breeding on Crozet, Kerguelen & Macquarie Islands and the altera subspecies breeding on Auckland & Heard Islands
Antarctic Prion: IOC treat Antarctic Prion as a monotypic species
Cape Petrel: We had only seen a handful of Cape Petrels earlier in the trip, so it was good to see another ten on the short trip to Drygalski Fjord
Cape Petrel: The nominate capense subspecies breeds from South Georgia to Heard Island & Macquarie Island, as well as, on the Antarctic coast
We also saw the second Grey-headed Albatross and the first three Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses of the trip.
Grey-headed Albatross: This is a monotypic species which breeds on subantarctic islands off the coast of Tierra del Fuego, as well as, South Georgia, Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen, Macquarie & Campbell Islands
Grey-headed Albatross: They are my favourite Albatross
Light-mantled Sooty Albatross: This monotypic species breeds from South Georgia to Macquarie, Antipodes & Campbell Islands
Light-mantled Sooty Albatross: The light mantle separates this species from Sooty Albatross which have a more uniform body colouration and a darker head
Light-mantled Sooty Albatross
Light-mantled Sooty Albatross: The two Sooty Albatross species have this very typical body shape when seen at this angle
South Georgia Shag: A few flew past the Plancius
After a few miles, we could see the entrance to the Drygalski Fjord
I will cover our cruise along the Drygalski Fjord in the next blog Post.
