Circumnavigating South Georgia - Part 7

Diaz Cove & Poncet Island

The weather at Holmestrand had been just about perfect and I think, a rarity for the time of year and place. While working around the boat and preparing dinner Dion talked about motoring through the night toward Cape Disappointment. During dinner there were further discussions and he offered an intermediate stop at Diaz Cove and Poncet Island, about two thirds of the way to Cape Disappointment. (Poncet Island was named after Dion's family in recognition of their many contributions to the development of wildlife and ecological preservation of South Georgia.)

So far the days had been physical and focused on getting some of the initial digital images I was after. The nights were early to bed and fast asleep while Dion steered us to our next landing spot. I was often bone weary from the climbing, scrambling, and then the sea tossing. This night I lay in bed with Sally's book, my notes and my shooting wish list thinking I would outline a few angles and subject compositions I would like to get...but like each of the nights before I was fast asleep and then it was morning in Diaz Cove. We could see Poncet Island across from our landing site.

The weather was typically overcast, dark, and cool, but little to no wind. As the zodiac approached the beach we could see that it was covered in elephant seals, but no fur seals...that was a welcome change. I have almost never observed elephant seals charging or harassing people walking carefully through their territory. Sometimes, as in this instance, the big bulls will watch you and actually raise up to get a better view. It is a very good idea to steer a wide path around these beach masters as they can be incredibly fast if they chose to move aggressively. The breeding bulls are often about 5 meters (16 feet) long and really look to be as big as Volkswagen beetles. I find the bulls very individual in that their large prominent proboscises are distinctly different bull to bull. Their necks are scarred from many fights establishing beach territories and maintaining control of the harems, but the scars are unique to each animal. The large proboscis is inflatable and achieves the beginnings of its maturity when the bull is about eight. Remaining dominant and retaining their territory with up to 35 cows is an energy draining job. Only a few particularly strong bulls breed more than one season. Crossing the beach reminded me of the times I have watched various penguins walk right through the middle of such herds without a glance from the elephants. I felt they were watching us but it was with a kind of indifference...they certainly did not turn their heads or give any indication that we might decide to challenge them for a piece of their territory.

We crossed the beach and faced the tussock grass covered hillside. There did not appear to be the muddy trails through the tussocks as we had encountered on the other landings. The thick grass looked to be impenetrable. No fur seals seen on the beach and no trails leading upward. As noted the fur seals are very athletic climbers and they were not here. I decided to seek out a Gentoo nesting area to observe the morning activities.

The Gentoo males were particularly active stealing stones from one another and then running the gauntlet back to their own nest through the egg sitters who squawked and poked at the thieves in their midst. Many of the nests were occupied eggs and one adult sitter, but there was still a lot of landscape rearranging going on by the rock robbers. I watched for a long time and it may have been the first time I noticed that bringing rocks back to the nest and its sitter went on after the initially pairing and nest building. It was a little like remodeling was an ongoing nest owner's responsibility. I had not paid much attention to that in the past. I concluded that the process must be a part of the pair bonding ritual as the sitter was sitting on the egg and the free individual would just be standing around, except for this particular activity. Usually, it seemed to me that thief would show his building material to the sitter before dropping it in the rim area of the nest.

This was an easy morning and soon time to return to the Golden Fleece. Large icebergs seemed to have arrived and the horizon looked to be filled with them. I figured the wind from Antarctica must have been blowing them in our direction, but there was so little wind on the beach. It was pleasant to have a longish walk without a fur seal to watch out for...lots of elephant seals, sea birds and Gentoo penguins but no fur seals.

Circumnavigating South Georgia – Part 6

Holmestrand and Elsmark Glacier

After an on-board lunch in King Haakon Bay we sailed out and rounded Cape Nunez on our way to Homestrand and Elsmark Glacier. Dion told us that Sally Poncet, his mother, and he had been here a number of times to take counts of albatross and that she had found a dead mouse at Cave Cove, Cape Rosa, last summer. This was significant because rodents are decimating bird populations that have no land predators and have their nests on the ground on South Georgia. The glaciers, including Elsmark, were always believed to protect large areas of the Islands because the rodents do not cross them, but with the retreat of these glaciers due to the on-going warming the rodents are finding their way into new areas.

At Holmestrand we had been looking for South Georgia Pipits, but they have become threatened presumably because of the recent arrival of mice and rats. Several times we saw a small bird flit into the tussac grass, but we were not quick enough to positively make identification. Dion was a font of information on the subject, but we were never together at the same moments. Apparently mice and rats were first found on South Georgia in 1976 by a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) field team. Since then rules have been enacted to protect the threatened species of birds and try to prevent the invasion of rodents into new areas—like no landing on Bird Island.

Rounding Cape Nunez we were treated to a full blue sky and bright sunshine, almost a first on this part of the cruise. I have tried to stay away from too many descriptions of the “beauty,” “the ruggedness,” “paradise,” and all the other adjectives that can be applied to wilderness areas, but this fully sunlit part of the island was a crown jewel—there I have been a little trite. Anyway, we headed into Homestrand. Elsmark Glacier flows into the west part of the Bay. Even though I knew it was not true, I felt we were the very first people to have seen this place and then landed on the pebbled beach among the Elephant Seals, Gentoo Penguins and a large colony of King Penguins.

We crossed the beach in a crowd of Kings returning from the sea and heading inland toward the main “city” of penguins. One cannot help but notice that there is almost always heavy two way traffic on the penguin highways to and from the beaches. As our crowd moved along there was a lot of vocalizing. It was not long before the first chicks began scampering toward some fish full-bellied adult making a soft triple like whistle. Once everyone was satisfied with who was who, regurgitated feeding began. After observing this behavior for extended periods of time and in many other locations it seemed that the chicks were never filled or satisfied no matter how long the ritual went on.

The King Penguin colonies are interesting because there are birds of all ages present. We found a number of adults who were molting and chicks who we still in their other worldly-fluffy coats that got them referred to as “Wooly Penguins” by the whalers a century before. There were young birds just beginning and/or finishing their first fledges. I was sure that if I knew how to identify them there were probably “retirees” present too.

I found a centrally located, curiously clean rock and sat down in the warm sun to observe and photograph the birds and their socializing. As in other places it did not take long for curiosity to exert itself and for both young and old individual birds to check me out. One of the birds would amble over quietly watching; stop three or four feet away and sway back or side-to-side to observe me better. After a few minutes, satisfied, the King would amble away. In the meantime, other penguins would be conducting penguin business all around me whether slapping each other with flippers as they “fought” with one another, go walking in small groups or just conducting a peering-about routine.

As the afternoon waned the wind arrived and began chasing the warm air away. The sun was moving closer to the horizon as we began the flat trek back to the beach. The afternoon had been exceedingly pleasant. We were not hanging out on a wind-screeching cliff hundreds of feet above the beach considering the safest and most secure way back…we just walked back unimpeded except for newly returning Kings from the sea. And even though the wind was rising, we did not have to face a roiling, heavily heaving sea to get back to the Golden Fleece. What a golden moment.

Back aboard we decided to sail through the night to Diaz Cove. Dion explained that so few people visited the coast between Homestrand and Diaz Cove that underwater obstacles, rocks and other dangers were present and were the primary reasons so few people visited these areas. Several places on the map were noted “unvisited” and we would have run out of time for the vast remainder of the circumnavigation had we exercised the kind of safety and caution that would have been necessary to visit these “unvisited” places. We decided and agreed, “Next time!”

Circumnavigating South Georgia – Part 5

Cape Rosa, King Haakon Bay

King Haakon Bay is well known because Shackleton and his five shipmates landed the lifeboat James Caird here on their epic sea crossing from Elephant Island. Cape Rosa is at the entrance to the Bay and Dion has often assisted with bird counts in this area. He was confident we could find some Wandering Albatross nests. He thought there might be some chicks and this prospect was exciting to all of us. We had sailed during the night from Elsehul Bay and dropped anchor about 4:30 am. We were in the Zodiacs by 5:30 and motoring through the ever-present cold wind toward a familiar landing spot. This south and westerly side of South Georgia catches most of the Antarctica weather and is usually colder, windier and much more inhospitable than any other portion of the island.

Albatrosses always prefer to nest high up to take advantage of prevailing winds. Wandering Albatrosses, and their cousins, spend most of their lives soaring and gliding over the waves of the Southern Ocean. They usually only come ashore to breed and raise a chick. The Wandering Albatross matures somewhere at about 9 years of age and have stayed most of these 9 first years gliding the waves dependent on strong winds to provide the energy for their seemingly unending flight. They have the widest wingspan, with nine feet not being uncommon. Sometimes when there is a dead calm they will land on the water and await the wind to provide them with lift again. Other albatrosses mature a little earlier, around 6 or 7 years of age. Wanders breed every other year as it takes about 9 months for a chick to fledge and leave the nest.

We had another hike across fur seal crowded beaches, up steep tussac slopes, always it seemed exceeding 45 degrees. There were many Giant Petrels nesting everywhere along with Light-Mantled Sooty Albatrosses before we came to four Wandering Albatross nests. Three of the nests had chicks and adults together and such big chicks. I mean huge. As adults they are the largest seabird in the world. I was especially pleased that the adults were there as they are often out fishing to feed the chick. Both parents share in incubation of the egg and feeding of the chick during its maturation. Taking photographs on these steep slopes in such windy and wild, cold weather is challenging for this photographer, but what a great challenge.

As noted there were many Light-Mantled Sooty Albatross nests in the area. To my eye they tended to gather in small groups and did not just place their nests randomly. They are a medium-sized albatross compared to the Wanderers and instead of being white they have slender grey bodies with sooty brown heads and wings. I was drawn to their eyes that have a partial grey-white ring, very noticeable and quite attractive. While we were there many of them returned from fishing and we attempted to photograph them in the wind.

Sometimes the climb down is more harrowing than the trudge up. We were pretty tired by the time we arrived at the beach, loaded up and returned to the Golden Fleece for a late lunch. Over lunch we discussed the next leg of our journey and decided to head along to Holmestrand and King Penguins, inspecting the coastline with hot cups of tea to beat off some of the chill on the way.

Nu’uanu Gallery – Honolulu, Hawaii

The South Georgia blog has been interrupted by various exhibitions. The most recent was last week in Honolulu at the Nu'uanu Gallery curated by Deanna Izen Miller titled "California Dreamin'--LA to HI." This is a group exhibition of 7 Los Angeles artists: Charles Arnoldi, Billy Al Bengston, ILana Block, Laddie John Dill, Andy Moses, Ann Thornycroft and myself. While these paintings have very little to do with Antarctica I realize that writing an acceptable descriptive blog entry for the penguin adventures does take time. More blog entries on South Georgia are coming so if you are reading them, please check back periodically for further updates.

While in Hawaii the lava flows graphically reminded me that I have to get back to Galapagos to take new digital images of the Galapagos Penguins and the many species of nesting albatrosses.

www.nuuanugallery.com

www.jjlheureux.com

Learning to “Mush” in Montana

I am making this out-of-sequence entry into the blog because I had such a great, small adventure learning to dog sled and "mushing" on the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park in the Gallatin National Forest before attending the annual dinner dance and auction at the Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana. Last year I had a one person exhibit, "Penguins of the Antarctic," with lectures and a book signing at the museum. Everything went very well and a member of the staff called after the exhibit and invited me to attend the annual dinner dance event. I had learned about a dog sledding school south of Bozeman during the exhibition and was eager to attend the dinner dance so that I would be close enough to spend a day learning to mush. (I came to find out that "mushing" was a linguistic devolution from the early French explorers of Canada for the word, "marche," to walk or hike. I had never felt my French Canadian heritage until Julie explained the history of "mushing.")

The Museum of the Rockies is a natural history museum focused primarily on dinosaurs and the numerous skeletal remains found throughout the region. I was pleased and enthused by the opportunity of the venue because while I look at the images of Antarctica and Penguins as composition and art, others see my images as pictorial natural history.

Hunter Johnson and I arrived in Bozeman, Montana, a few days early and drove to Paradise Valley. I have the best cold weather gear for Antarctica and almost never have the opportunity to use it in the United States. We were ready when we met Julie, our teacher and guide. The sun was out and there was very little wind. It was cold, but not that cold. Julie showed us how to set up the sleds, harness the dogs and gave us the commands and sledding techniques. Off we went.

The small, approximately 35-pound Siberian and Alaskan Huskies employed by Julie were much faster and stronger than I imagined. When Julie said, "Hang on!" she meant it. It was a lay-you-on-your-back lightning start. Going up inclines one helps like riding a skateboard and pushing off along the way, but you really have to ride the brake on the downhills. Turning was reminiscent of my earlier days of riding a motorcycle to art school...leaning left, leaning right and around you go. But of course the best part of it was the dogs. What characters and what joy they seemed to have in pulling and running. They also liked the hugs when we stopped for lunch and they really liked the little chunks of meat Julie brought along for each of them. There was not a growler among them, all seemed to be happy and joyful and were ready to go after our lunch and rest. The way back was much different in that a storm come in and we were surrounded by large snowflakes that fell faster and faster as the sun disappeared and the temperatures dropped. It never snows in Los Angeles and rarely have I seen snow in Antarctica itself. I like snow and the return trip was very fast in the growing gloom. By the time we arrived at base I was as cold as I had ever been in Antarctica. Maybe next year I will be able to arrange a full day or two and dog sled into Yellowstone among the bison, elk and wolves.

www.museumoftherockies.org
www.hunterjohnsonmusic.com
www.yellowstonenationalpark.com

Circumnavigating South Georgia – Part 4

Elsehul Bay

Our early afternoon arrival in Elsehul Bay allowed us time to anchor, tidy up the ship after an arduous four day crossing and launch the zodiac for our first landing. Dion's familiarity with Elsehul made for an easy landing spot that would allow us to learn to cross the fur seal and elephant seal covered beaches with relative ease and in safety. Ever present and very curious penguins came up to our landing as if they were a welcoming committee for the local inhabitants. Fur seals are almost always aggressive and it is not uncommon to be charged by various individuals who it would seem want to eat your leg off. Dion had brought each of us a long lightweight pole and with the first attacking seal he shouted and lightly brushed it's long whiskers. This ferocious being pulled up instantly yelped in surprise and retreated. Dion had not even touched any part of this seal, except the whiskers. This he informed us was all that was necessary to "navigate the beach" and avoid being bitten. By the end of our three weeks crossing many over-populated beaches we became adept at out bluffing these frightenly furious charges without anyone, seal or human, the worse for wear. Several years before I was walking beside the expedition leader of a larger group passing through fur seals, when one successfully slashed our leader's heavy outer garment and tore his rubber boot. Fortunately, his skin was unpunctured which had it been would have threatened serious infection. Fur seals are cute and very attractive to look at from a distance, but most knowledgeable beach-crossers really want to stay out of their way to avoid any confrontation.


We had landed on this first beach in order to see remnant trypots from the past when seals, penguins and whales were boiled down to retrieve their oils. In spite of the rising weather, wind and snow, we decided to cross the bay to another beach in order to climb the bluffs to photograph Grey-headed Albatross. While our ascent was not vertical rock climbing, the slope was greater than 45 degrees and often required that we grab the tussock grass to pull ourselves up the slippery slope. That was us, but Dion seemed more sure-footed than a Big Horned Sheep and easily out-distanced us to the top...for us nearly an hour’s climb. The weather continued to close in and wind was blowing more strongly.

Normally one would like to deal with good light and safe weather for taking photographs of your subjects. In South Georgia one is very lucky to have any perfection of conditions and you have to be prepared for whatever comes. By the time we had achieved the goal of shooting these Grey-headed Albatross on their nests we were covered in icy mud, nearly being blown off the bluffs by huge, cold blasts of wind and tired. Dion exercised his command prerogatives and called for a retreat. He figured the winds were closing in on 40 mph and was concerned that we still needed to return to the beach and get back to the Golden Fleece before things became worse! The descent was fast and smoother than I would have imagined. It reminded me of scree-running that I had learned many years ago in the Canadian Rockies. We made it to the Golden Fleece when I learned that our climbing was not over just because we were about to board the zodiac. Every return was to be terminated by one last climbing obstacle. The Golden Fleece is not a tourist boat...it does not have a gangway and a crew to assist your coming aboard. From the rocking zodiac one has to learn to hoist themselves the five or six feet over the gunnels from the unsteady platform of the zodiac. When you are wet, tired and cold--loaded down with pounds of Antarctic gear this is a daunting feature of the trip never considered. But what exhilaration to accomplish the day's goal and still have the energy and strength to pull yourself aboard what now seemed a safe and snug home. There were hot showers, clean clothes, warm food and a bunk to fall into that was not falling away from or rising up to greet you. I did sleep well this first night in South Georgia.

Daybreak was in much better weather and our enthusiasm for another day ashore was greatly enhanced. I wanted to photograph in detail the trypots and surroundings. To that end we returned to that beach. The trypots are smaller than the big rending vats found in the whaling stations in various bays of South Georgia...more about this later. The pots were left over from the early days, 1800's, of the whaling industry. Today a large, male fur seal made it clear that the trypots were part of his territory. He eyed my activities with intense interest and as a result he is in many of the images I took that morning. We boarded the zodiac went back across the bay to our previous climbing site.

After our climb from the previous afternoon we were all prepared for the ascent. The weather was much better and we quickly came to realize that there were reasons for the mud channels we had climbed up in the wind, rain and snow of the previous day. In fact it was a great surprise to me that fur seals appeared in the tussac grass as we climbed. They were the cause of these muddy, slippery and smelly trails all the way to the top! And at the top there seemed to be as many fur seals as on the beach. Amazing. I found that for some reason we had not seen them the day before or they had simply not been there or the weather had captured our non-bird attention. Now I had to be alert that a fur seal might be asleep behind the tussac grass and if disturbed from its slumber, would some be charging out. My initial reaction was, "What on earth are they doing way up here?" But I was not up here myself to deal with fur seals. I was after the Grey-headed Albatross with their very attractive yellow stripped, black bills. Often a nesting couple would be cuddled together looking peaceful and content.

We then came across Black-browed and Light-mantled Sooty Albatross. What a treasure trove of these handsome and endangered birds. We spent hours hiking the backbone of the bluffs and cliffs, watching the soaring and cliff take-offs of these large birds. No matter how high we seemed to climb we found fur seals.


Early in the afternoon we returned to the Fleece to clean up after our climbing-hike and to eat lunch. There was an agreement that we had used up a lot of energy and strength and that a zodiac cruise to Joke Cove would be nice and perhaps there would be something to photograph. Joke is a small cove in Elsehul Bay. There were more fur seals, shags and a Gentoo penguin colony. As we came into the cove we saw many of the Gentoo in the water returning from fishing going to their nesting sites. Dion indicated that we would leave Elsehul Bay in the early evening and sail onto the next stop during the night. The five hours of climbing in the morning made it a sure thing I would sleep soundly and be ready for bed immediately after dinner that night.

Circumnavigating South Georgia - Part 3

*Fleece finds Willis Islands and safe harbor at Elsehul

After leaving Shag Rocks in the afternoon the day was sunny and totally beautiful. The sea allowed us on deck with our binoculars and cameras without fear of being drenched in ruinous saltwater or washed overboard and seabirds soared back and forth in our wake. That morning a speck of land that is Willis Islands, the northwestern most part of South Georgia, was found on the horizon. As the speck on the horizon grew with its backdrop of clouds, the clearer the attacking sea could be seen ravaging the rocky cliffs of Willis Islands. People are not supposed to land on Willis Islands or its near neighbor, Bird Island, because they are seabird sanctuaries. Seabirds nest on the ground and are vulnerable to rats. These islands are presently rat free. Rats, however, have ravaged many populations of ground nesting birds around the world and these rats are usually introduced by people.

A few miles from Willis Island Dion lowered the sails and we went to engine. Within moments the backdrop of clouds raced toward us, obscuring the sun, surrounding us with horizontal snow and a screeching squall. The Fleece did not fail and we motored from snow into a fog bank being pushed by high winds. Nonetheless we cruised the crashing coast of Willis Islands and then Bird Island thinking we would go on to Trinity Island and drop anchor in Jordan Cove. The entrance to the cove was blocked by large ice and Dion suggested we make a course for Elsehul a larger cove to the East. The observable beaches along the route were covered in fur seals and elephant seals. It is the beginning of the breeding season and each grouping of seals was in turmoil establishing and defending territory. Thus we came to Elsehul and its calm inner bay where we dropped anchor prepared to spend our first night in South Georgia.

Elsehul is a nesting place for grey-headed albatross, light-mantled sooty albatross and black-browed albatross that find its high bluffs and hills good for nesting. For those of us lugging 30-pound packs of camera gear, the 45-degree slopes to attain the heights and photograph these beautiful birds is quite daunting after four days of being tossed about of the Southern Ocean.

WEATHER

The weather around and on South Georgia is fairly consistent throughout the year because the island is anchored in the East flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current that surrounds Antarctica with its colder water temperature than the world's oceans that abut this current. These colder waters erect a natural barrier in the seas and determine the weather of a place like South Georgia. Sea ice does not form at South Georgia, except in a few sheltered fjords. South Georgia does produce its own small icebergs from glaciers. Glaciers and snowfields cover about half of the island in permanent ice and snow. The large tabular icebergs that are seen in the seas in the neighborhood of South Georgia are from the crumbling ice shelves of Antarctica itself. The high mountain ranges contribute to the changeability of the weather on South Georgia. The island itself in arc shaped from northwest to southeast. Antarctica dominant weather blows in from the underside, southern side, of the island and is confronted by the high mountains. The cold air is compressed as it is forced up and over the mountains by the prevailing high winds. As the cold air crests it is often as if demons were suddenly released from confinement and that wind of recently compressed air now races down the northern slopes at ferocious velocities until it hits the bays and open sea on the other side. It is not uncommon for these winds, called williwaws, to reach 100 km or more.