Wednesday 8 March 2006
Next stop: Bird Island
It's been such a busy couple of days I haven't had a chance to post so I've got a double-bumper entry today covering our second day at King Edward Point and our first day at Bird Island.
Penguin River and Mount Duse (South Georgia)
After such a good day on Monday I was keen to see as much as I could on our second (and last) day at South Georgia. After overnight rain it was another lovely sunny day so I got up early and headed along the coast to a place called Penguin River. It's a site where glacier melt water from the mountains meets the sea and seems to be a popular spot with the local King Penguin population. I headed around the bay, past Grytviken and the whaling cemetery that is the site of Ernest Shackleton's grave. Anywhere near the sea at South Georgia is always teeming with life and here was no exception, there were all kinds of seals and birds to be seen along the way.
One of the most interesting were the giant elephant seals that were basking in the sun. They are huge immobile lumps of blubber weighing several tons, which rarely do anything more strenuous than scratch themselves in between burping and farting loudly.
A male elephant seal and his harem of females. Click the picture to watch a video of their charming manners (6.7MB AVI file). The peak in the background is Mount Duse, which I climbed later in the day.
As well as the elephant seals there were plenty of young fur seals, many of which were fighting with each other (or me if they could get a chance!). Here's a video (6.0MB AVI file).
I got back from Penguin River in time for lunch on the ship, and decided to join Ian and Craig on an afternoon hike up Mount Duse. The walk was inspired by this picture, which was taken from the top by Frank Hurley on Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance expedition (they stopped at South Georgia on their way South). After an exciting assent the view from the top didn't disappoint, although there is a lot less snow now than there was in Hurley's picture (probably due to the time of year).
Better late than never: Ian on top of Mount Duse, 91 years after Hurley's photo was taken.
Once we were back at sea level I was given a quick tour of the base by one of the fisheries scientists. Compared to Halley their base is the height of luxury, with much more space allowed for all facilities. There base is not only newer, but built on rock, which makes it a lot easier to build a decent sized building for a reasonable price. The tour included the science labs and sample tanks, which held various sea creatures that had been caught in the bay. Many of the tanks contained various types of deep water crabs, which are being kept for a study of their life cycle and breeding habits.
We were also told about their studies into the Patagonian Toothfish populations, which are used to determine sustainable fishing quotas in these waters. In order to work out the age distribution in a particular area, they collect the fish's ear bones from the fishermen who make the catches. They then seal them in resin before cutting them into thin slices and looking at them under a microscope. The cross sections contain rings which can be counted to get their age - just like rings on a tree!
Bird Island
We left King Edward Point in the early evening, and cruised out of the bay and along the coast overnight. Our destination was Bird Island, a small lump of rock just off the west coast of South Georgia. Bird Island is aptly named, as it hosts one of the largest concentrations of wildlife anywhere in the world - apparently there is one bird or seal for every 1.5 square metres of land! Because of its importance as a breeding ground for birds like the albatross is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which means that generally it is off limits to visitors. In order to study the albatross, seal and penguin populations BAS runs a base with a small wintering team to do the fieldwork. We needed to visit to resupply the base which gave us a rare chance to walk around this incredible island.
If I had to describe Bird Island in one word I would choose 'prehistoric'. From the moment you arrive it feels like you've stepped into the land that time forgot. Steep peaks rise above the mist, while huge birds circle on the air currents like Pterodactyls. Closer to sea level the ground is marshy and covered with an uneven lumps of tussock grass. Amongst these hillocks live thousands of fur seals, which are constantly growling and whining at anything that passes too near to their turf. On the beach (the prime breeding grounds) it is nature at it's rawest, with animal carcasses littering the muddy streams, their skeletons picked clean by the scavenging sea birds.
Me at the top of La Roche, looking down on the western side of Bird Island.
Last time I visited Bird Island it was in the middle of the breeding season, and the beach was packed with angry bull males. We literally had to fight our way up the jetty with a broom handle to reach the base. Thankfully by now the large males have all gone out to sea leaving the more sedate (and smaller!) females to wean their pups. Another big change in the last two years is that the old base has been demolished and replaced with a new, larger building.
As soon as we arrived at the jetty we set about getting the work done, which meant moving cargo into the base and getting their waste back to the ship. We also had to move 80 drums of aviation fuel from the storage area to near to the generator shed, to power the base for the coming winter.
Moving fuel drums at Bird Island.
Once the work was out the way we were given a tour of the island by some of the scientists. Isaac the albatross scientist took a couple of us up La Roche, the highest point on the island at 356 metres (1,168 feet). I did some of my training with Isaac before we headed South so he has been at Bird Island for as long as I was at Halley. Although Bird Island winters are considerably shorter than the Halley ones, they are done with just three other people for company on an island that is just 5km long - quite a different experience!
Isaac is not only familiar with the island but he's a lot more used to hills than us ice-shelf dwellers. He left us literally gasping for air as he shot up the side of the slope, three peaks in three days was starting to tell! Although it was hard work the view from the top was just stunning, with the rest of Bird Island and South Georgia stretching out below us. The weather once again cleared at just the right time and we sat for a while and watched patchy mist roll in from the sea and across the slopes below us. We even saw a whale spouting a few times in the channel that separates the island from South Georgia.
A panoramic view from the top of La Roche, this time looking east towards South Georgia.
While we were walking around Isaac was telling us about some of the work he does to understand the life cycle and behaviour of the albatross. As well as counting, weighing and tagging birds and chicks he attaches light meters to certain birds which are collected the following year and used to track their migration. From the data he has shown that the birds travel incredible distances in search of food - in some cases they will fly twice round the world in a single year!
Tracking map showing the migration path of a female Grey-headed albatross (Image courtesy of BAS).
After a while we headed down the hill (just as fast!) and returned to the base for a well earned cup of tea. Just when I thought my legs were going to get a rest another ferry-load of people arrived from the ship for a tour, and Isaac and Sarah asked us if we wanted to tag along to another part of the island. Although I was a bit knackered I didn't want to miss the chance, who knows if I'll ever pass this way again.
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