!!!South Georgia Island
by members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

28 January 2013

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

The main disappointment for all travelers, who take a standard route to
Antarctica, is that they can't see famous King penguins with a yellow
"collar". Places accessible by cruise ships are populated with large
colonies of Gentoo, Adelie, and Chinstrap penguins. They are cute in
their own way, but are hardly 50-70 cm tall. And they don't have those
famous yellow "collars" around their necks. On board of such a cruise
ship I finally realized that King and Emperor penguins — biggest of them
all — simply don't live on the most visited part of Antarctica, which is
the closest to South America. They live on the outskirts: South Georgia
Island and Ross Sea.

[{Image src='01_Antarctica, South Georgia Island.jpg' caption='Antarctica, South Georgia Island' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='434'}]

The shape of Antarctica is such that it reaches out to the South
American continent. Drake Passage separates Antarctic Peninsula, the
northernmost part of the coldest continent, and Cape Horn. This is where
two largest oceans, the Pacific, the Atlantic, meet with the Southern
"unofficial" ocean. Argentinean town of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego has
regular cruise ships that can get you across the passage. This travel
route has been there for a very long time. Ships operate every day
November through March. I can't even begin to describe all the hardships
one has to endure to cross the Drake Passage: two or three days of
rocking and pitching even without a storm. But after that one enters
calm waters of the Southern ocean with numerous Antarctic islands.
Cruise ships schedule disembarking literally by hour. At the end of a
five-to-six day cruise one gets to set foot on the continent of
Antarctica, and then returning back to Ushuaia.

[{Image src='02_Antarctica, South Georgia Island.jpg' caption='Antarctica, South Georgia Island' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

I've already been on this cruise in January 2010 (I'll share some photos
with you later) and had Antarctica marked off my list. However, the
photographer in me didn't want to settle until the most beautiful
penguins with yellow "collars" were photographed. After that trip I've
been thinking about that for several years, waiting for a second chance.
And three years later I was given a new opportunity — an expedition to
South Georgia, the place with the biggest colony of the second largest
species of penguins on Earth! Cruises to South Georgia are rare and
relatively expensive. Just imagine that first of all you have to get to
Santiago-de-Chile, and then to Falkland Islands by plane that flies only
once a week. From Port Stanley (capital of Falkland Islands) an
icebreaker will take you on a 3-day trip: you will head East over the
Atlantic and into sub-Antarctic waters, where South Georgia Island lies.

Now that we've covered the geography, let's talk history. There were
large settlements of whalers in South Georgia and other Antarctic
Islands from early 20th century to 1960s. Before the discovery of cheap
petrochemical oil, whale blubber was used as a lubricant for heavy
machinery. So the Industrial Revolution was made possible by whale fat.
Eventually whale blubber factories were closed, people left, and their
fleet of whaleboats was left to rust. Now only penguins roam the ruins
and elephant seals bask in the sun. Fortunately, no one hunted King
penguins, as they were rather useless.

[{Image src='03_Antarctica, South Georgia Island.jpg' caption='Antarctica, South Georgia Island' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='564'}]

Taking albatross pictures and seasickness pills made me very sleepy, and
a three-day trip to South Georgia just flew by. Finally we saw the
island — rocks, waves beating against the shore, and gray sky — a rather
unfriendly place. Strong winds are common there and a storm can start
any moment. The island is stretched from southeast to northwest, and
numerous bays and creeks carve its eastern side. The main inhabitants
are penguins, elephant seals, sea bears, and a variety of birds. The
ship slowly makes its way along side the island shore. At last we hear
the announcement — disembarking will be tomorrow!

Salisbury Plain Bay welcomed us with cold weather, gray sky, wind, and a
fantastic photographic light. I jumped out of Zodiac boat on the shore
and walked for a little bit before a penguin passed me by without even
noticing my presence. After that a group of 50 penguins jumped out of
water. They looked rather preoccupied with their own business, which was
definitely more important than a human photographer. Then I heard a roar
of a sea elephant (a fat seal 4 meters long and weighing 1 tone) in the
back. Three meters ahead a couple of thunderbirds (almost 1 meter
wingspan) were ripping a penguin corpse apart. After my initial shock I
took out my camera and started shooting... King beauties were all around
me.

[{Image src='04_Antarctica, South Georgia Island.jpg' caption='Antarctica, South Georgia Island' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

October is the month when nestlings start to grow. They were covered in
brown down and were a bit shorter and fatter than adult penguins. Baby
penguins gather in large "kindergarten" groups, where they wait for
their parents to come and feed them. From time to time an adult penguin
comes in front of the group and shouts something, then one of thousand
babies comes out squeaking in response. After "lunch" they part till the
next day.

Later I realized that penguins, baby penguins especially, are very
curious creatures. If you stay in one place and don't do sharp
movements, they start approaching you one by one, then in groups, and
finally they surround you completely. The bravest ones try to taste your
shoe or a camera lens. And that was a perfect time to shoot spherical
panoramas.

[{Image src='05_Antarctica, South Georgia Island.jpg' caption='Antarctica, South Georgia Island' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='381'}]

There are hundred thousands penguins in St. Andrews Bay. It was a warm
sunny morning when we arrived there. I had only my fleece jacket on. The
snow was melting, and penguins stayed on several remaining snow patches
or lined up alongside little rivers with their feet in the water to cool
off. Mountains embraced the bay, and as far as I could see, there were
penguins: in groups or lined up, jumping in the water and back. Waiting
for food "kindergartens" occupied many archers of land. The seashore was
covered with sea elephants bathing in the sun. The celebration of life
was breathtaking. I just wanted to observe this organized chaos rather
than take pictures. Later that night, after the sunset I noticed a
curious detail: the evening back lighting made baby penguins' down glow
beautifully, and it seemed like there was a large cactus field in front
of me!

[{Image src='06_Baby of King penguins.jpg' caption='Baby of King penguins' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='569'}]

There were several more landings. I took spherical panoramas of sea
elephants and small Adelie and Gentoo penguins, which I met on my
previous trip to Antarctica. I also took pictures of whaleboat carcasses
and ruins of whale blubber factories. But nothing could compare with
overwhelming emotions I experienced at Salisbury plains and St. Andrews
Bay. At the end of our trip the weather got angry at us for some reason:
our ship had to hide from the storm wind in small bays for a couple of
days, and we had to stay away from the shore as waves were too strong.
It was time to return to Falkland Islands and then go back home.

We also would like to give you some useful facts about South Georgia
island:

South Georgia archipelago (Isla Georgias del Sur)lies in the South
Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Antarctica. It includes the
largest island of the same name, and several tiny islands that are not
worthy to mention.

Technically this archipelago is located closer to Latin America (and
therefore Argentina constantly tries to claim sovereignty over it), but
historically South Georgia is one of the British Overseas Territories.

Because of its remote location South Georgia archipelago was hidden from
the rest of the world for a very long time. Even now there are debates
as to who discovered the islands. Some say it's the famous Amerigo
Vespucci or not so famous Anthony de la Roché. But there is a big
difference between "discovering by passing by", and being the first to
set foot on the unknown land!

[{Image src='07_King penguins.jpg' caption='King penguins' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='475'}]

This fact is undeniable. The first to set foot on the distant and harsh
islands was a famous British navigator James Cook. He not only explored,
but also made a map of a new land naming it Georgia Islands after
English King George III and proclaimed it the sovereign territory of
United Kingdom.

In the last decades of the 18th century and during 19th century the
archipelago was populated by seal hunters and by the 20th century it
became the largest whaling center in the world.

During its short history archipelago saw a lot of exciting events. They
were all connected with escalated conflict that Argentina had with
United Kingdom over the sovereignty of the islands. Latin Americans put
a lot of resources in the effort to seize the territory: they built
military bases and launched submarines to the shore of the islands. In
the 1980s islands were the center of the undeclared Falklands War, but
United Kingdom, once again, prevailed and Argentina had to capitulate.

Rigorous English military presence remained on the island for two more
decades before it was called off. Nowadays South Georgia is a heaven of
tranquility on Earth with population mostly consisting of different
scientists who observe weather.

[{Image src='08_Antarctica, South Georgia Island.jpg' caption='Antarctica, South Georgia Island' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='341'}]

Grytviken, the archipelago's largest city, is the southernmost and least
populated capital in the world. During whaling boom years island
population used to reach as nearly as 2000 people, but now, even during
"busy" summer period population hardly reaches 50.

Tourists also come here. Grytviken and South Georgia both offer
breathtaking scenery: mountains, glaciers, and fjords. Not to mention all
the historical landmarks, such as: ancient cemetery with polar explorers
remains and run down whaling bases.

The main attraction of the Antarctic is its unique fauna. And South
Georgia is the place to observe it. For example, 80% of world's
albatross population nests here. Albatrosses are not the only attraction
here... It seems that the whole colony of a million existing King
Penguins inhabits South Georgia! Hard to believe? See for yourself on
our panoramas.

\\ \\
9 further panoramas of [Antarctica. Part III|Geography/Territories_Oceans_and_Islands/Antarctica/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Antarctica]




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[{Metadata Suchbegriff='South Georgia Island Antarctica Antarktis' Kontrolle='Nein'}]