Not for the first time, the weather caused us to have to switch to Plan B in South Georgia. The original plan was for a zodiac cruise around Cooper Bay: but it was too choppy to launch the zodiacs. Plan B for me was a quick breakfast and get back on deck, as we headed for the nearby Drygalski Fjord. This wonderful Fjord is nine miles long and has the Risting Glacier and Jenkins Glacier at the far end. As a consequence of the glaciers, the water is colder and bluer than the surrounding sea. When I visited the area in Apr 18, I saw good numbers of presumably breeding Common Diving-petrels, as well as, a few of the much scarcer South Georgia Diving-petrels. I was surprised that we didn't see them again on this trip, but presumably we were too early for their breeding season.
One of the key species I was looking for on my first visit to the Drygalski Fjord at the start of Apr 18 was Snow Petrel. They breed high on the slopes of the Fjord. However, we must have been too late in the breeding season as we failed to find any, despite having about sixty Birders on the Plancius. Fortunately, the return visit was better timed and we saw at least ten. The first wasn't a close view, but we saw several close to the Plancius, as we continued along the Drygalski Fjord.
I was pleased that we saw several Leopard Seals resting on icebergs, as we cruised along the Drygalski Fjord. On my first visit to South Georgia we saw one pop its head up during a zodiac cruise around Cooper Bay. However, I was still uneasy about using the camera on the zodiacs at the time, as I didn't have a waterproof cover for it. Consequently, I had decided to leave the camera on the ship that afternoon. So, while I had seen one, I didn't have any photos of a Leopard Seal. It was good to rectify that photographic omission.
Finally, we reached the Risting Glacier at the end of the Drygalski Fjord.
I think Expedition Leader Ali and the Captain knew it was unlikely that the sea swell would have diminished at Cooper Bay, so they decided to stop and Larsen Harbour and launch the zodiacs after lunch. The plan was a zodiac cruise into the two and a half mile long side Fjord.
I decided that I might have a better viewpoint on the Plancius for passing Birds, so I topped up the coffee flask, before quickly returned to the bridge wing. I hoped for some Diving-petrels flying along the Fjord, but I was unsuccessful. Everything I saw were repeats of earlier species.
The zodiacs returned with the news that they had seen five Weddell Seals, but nothing else of note. I wasn't too worried as I had seen my first Weddell Seal in the Drygalski Fjord on my previous visit & fortunately, we had excellent views of more Weddell Seals in the Antarctic Peninsula.
With the zodiacs back on board, we returned to Cooper Bay, but it was still too choppy for the zodiacs to be launched. Expedition Leader Ali and the Captain announced we would start heading South for Elephant Island. The schedule in the brochure was to visit the South Shetland Islands, but that would have meant fighting a Force nine wind and seas. Whereas, we would miss the worst of the weather, if we headed further West for Elephant Island. As always, the exact route in the Southern Oceans is weather dependent and this seemed a wise compromise. It was a pity to miss the South Shetland Islands, however, there weren't any special Birds there. Plus, Elephant Island is the island where Shackleton left his crew and started his boat journey in the James Caird for South Georgia. So, as a big Shackleton and Crean fan, I was happy to see another of the locations they visited. There was still the chance of some seawatching as we left South Georgia. I will cover the late afternoon and evening in the next Blog Post.