King Penguin Rookery - South Georgia Island
Anyone who’s
ever seen a nature documentary where 1000’s of penguins and hundreds of seals
are sharing space on a wide beach has probably viewed the island of South
Georgia. The location for this Eden of
nature is in the South Atlantic, a two-day voyage by sea southeast of the
Falklands and north of Antarctica. The
island is mountainous and studded with glaciers. Where the glaciers have receded, wide
beaches, plains and valleys are present adjacent to the sea. The ocean here ranges from a beautiful Caribbean turquoise to sapphire blue,
colors we never thought to see in such a cold environment. There are no trees on this island, just
tussock grass, moss and a few other low hugging plants.
Konig Glacier, Hercules Bay
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| Fur Seals Nesting on Tussock Grass |
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| Skua Nesting in Tussock Grass |
What the
island lacks in vegetation, it makes up in wildlife. This is the major home of the king penguin, a
beautiful bird whose colorful plumage is breathtaking. It is the most colorful of all penguins. The adults stand about 3 feet tall, have
black heads with large orange lower beaks and a cheek patch of orange-gold. They still have sleek gray,
shiny bodies with a white chest and stomach.
They resemble the Emperor penguin, which is much larger and lives in the
coldest areas of Antarctica.
King Penguins
They are curious birds, often walking up to us to check us out and showing no fear of humans. We have visited several colonies of them, the largest numbering about 150,000. One other had 100,000 and a third was populated by about 30,000. Visiting a penguin colony/rookery is a multisensory experience. Often, the first clue that you are near is the aroma. If you’ve ever been in a barnyard, you know that smell! Now multiply it by 20 or so and you have the idea. The visual is awe-inspiring but so is the sound of so many penguins honking and calling. We were lucky enough to see some adults balancing eggs on their feet. They have a little apron of skin and feathers just above their feet to cover the egg and keep it warm. These penguins do not build nests or burrows. Instead, they just keep the egg with them, switching egg duty between the male and female.
King Adjusting Egg for Incubation
We were able
to add another species to our penguin list here—the macaroni penguin. It is one of the crested penguins that lives
on the cliffs and rocks. As such, it’s
not easy to photograph since you must float around on a zodiac (rubber dinghy)
which is constantly moving to try to get a shot. Why is it called “macaroni”? Think of the song Yankee Doodle, where the
fellow put a feather in his cap and called it macaroni. The feathers that create the crest reminded
someone of that concept.
Macaroni Penguin
When we
toured through the penguin rookeries, another animal was numerous and active,
the Antarctic fur seal. Most of the
seals we saw were young pups, a few months old.
Some were still suckling with their mothers; others loped around
together in creches, waiting for their moms to return from the sea and feed
them. They’re being left alone more
often now to learn how to function on their own. They were playing and swimming in the ocean,
vocalizing loudly, and sleeping. These
animals also show no fear of humans and come very close to us. It doesn’t appear that they have any natural
enemies. We expected to see some orcas
or larger seals preying on them, but none were in the area. We did learn that seal numbers have increased
dramatically since they are not hunted by humans anymore.
Fur Seal Pup Nursing
There are no
human residents in this animal paradise.
We have viewed a few abandoned whaling stations which were operating
until the 1960’s. When most of the
whales had been killed, the stations closed, since it was no longer profitable
to keep them open. There are a few
people here seasonally to perform scientific research and operate a small
museum for the few tourists who come here.
Defunct Whaling Station - Grytviken, South Georgia
The British
Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton was buried here on South Georgia in a
place called Grytviken, a former whaling station. Grytviken was the site from which Shackleton
organized a rescue mission to bring his men home after their ship, the Endurance,
was broken apart when sea ice surrounded it in the Antarctic in 1915. He and his crew managed to sail to Elephant
Island on the Antarctic peninsula in some small boats. From there, Shackleton and 5 crew members
sailed and reached South Georgia. They
trekked across the mountains and glaciers until they reached a whaling
station. Eventually, they reached
Grytviken where the rescue effort was launched.
All of the crew was rescued from Elephant Island and none perished in the
harsh environment. Shackleton launched
another expedition to Antarctica a few years later but died of a heart attack
while at sea. His widow agreed to bury
him on South Georgia.
Earnest Shackelton Grave - Grytviken, South Georgia
