King Haakon Bay, South Georgia
After four days at sea we arrived at the island of South Georgia. A stiff wind blew as we entered King Haakon Bay, on the island’s southwest flank, and slowly made our way past icebergs broken off the Larsen Ice Shelf, hundreds of miles to the south, in the Weddell Sea.
Outfitted in our red parkas and rubber boots, we went ashore in Zodiacs and landed at Peggotty Bluff, near the site where Ernest Shackleton and his five boat mates landed with the James Caird in May, 1916. Large elephant seals were already there, piled together on shore, a large bull keeping close eye on any other bull that may try to usurp a female from his harem.
While many of us walked the shore to see giant petrels feeding on an elephant seal carcass, others went on shorter walks, and still others stayed near the landing site to watch small bands of king penguins.
By mid-morning we could see a dozen Lilliputian figures climbing a snowy upland to the east, a thousand feet above and several miles away. It was twelve of our shipmates attempting to cross South Georgia from King Haakon Bay to Stromness Whaling Station (now abandoned), following the same route as Shackleton and two other men, the brilliant New Zealand navigator, Frank Worsley, and the tough and amiable Irishman, Tom Crean. It took those three men 36 hours to make the crossing. Our party hoped to make it in two to three days, moving conservatively and having a grand adventure. We wished them well.
The afternoon found us on a Zodiac tour off Cape Rosa, a small cove off the entrance of King Haakon Bay where the James Caird first made landfall after its remarkable 800-mile-long crossing from Elephant Island.
We then skirted back through treacherous rocks and diamond-like icebergs to exit King Haakon Bay and make our way around the western reaches of South Georgia to begin our exploration of the northeast side of the island. All in all, the end of a very good day.
After four days at sea we arrived at the island of South Georgia. A stiff wind blew as we entered King Haakon Bay, on the island’s southwest flank, and slowly made our way past icebergs broken off the Larsen Ice Shelf, hundreds of miles to the south, in the Weddell Sea.
Outfitted in our red parkas and rubber boots, we went ashore in Zodiacs and landed at Peggotty Bluff, near the site where Ernest Shackleton and his five boat mates landed with the James Caird in May, 1916. Large elephant seals were already there, piled together on shore, a large bull keeping close eye on any other bull that may try to usurp a female from his harem.
While many of us walked the shore to see giant petrels feeding on an elephant seal carcass, others went on shorter walks, and still others stayed near the landing site to watch small bands of king penguins.
By mid-morning we could see a dozen Lilliputian figures climbing a snowy upland to the east, a thousand feet above and several miles away. It was twelve of our shipmates attempting to cross South Georgia from King Haakon Bay to Stromness Whaling Station (now abandoned), following the same route as Shackleton and two other men, the brilliant New Zealand navigator, Frank Worsley, and the tough and amiable Irishman, Tom Crean. It took those three men 36 hours to make the crossing. Our party hoped to make it in two to three days, moving conservatively and having a grand adventure. We wished them well.
The afternoon found us on a Zodiac tour off Cape Rosa, a small cove off the entrance of King Haakon Bay where the James Caird first made landfall after its remarkable 800-mile-long crossing from Elephant Island.
We then skirted back through treacherous rocks and diamond-like icebergs to exit King Haakon Bay and make our way around the western reaches of South Georgia to begin our exploration of the northeast side of the island. All in all, the end of a very good day.
