MS National Geographic Explorer
Drygalski Fjord and Cooper Bay, South Georgia
Saturday, February 26, 2011

    Yesterday was all spent at sea on our way toward South Georgia. The seas remained quite rough, but the ship is handling very well and almost all on board have their sea legs and are managing okay. There was an almost complete absence of visible life above the sea yesterday and the ship was surrounded by fog. The whole day was spent in a private bubble with a one-mile radius.

    As this morning dawned, we were still locked in our bubble, but the seas are becoming calmer. It was clear that we were getting closer to land, though, as our albatross and petrel companions began to reappear behind and around the ship. First to join the ship were the southern and northern giant petrels, black-browed albatrosses, and a lone wandering albatross.

    About midmorning, the fog began to rise and unveiled our first sighting of South Georgia. We approached the southern tip of the island. The sharp, high mountains that make up much of the island are covered with glaciers and snow, but also show as bright green from all the grass covering the lower slopes.

    We were not able to land on South Georgia before checking in with the government in Grytviken, which lies on the eastern side of the island. However, we got special permission by radio to use the ship to explore Drygalski Fjord and to launch Zodiacs for a tour of Cooper Bay from the water.

    Drygalksi Fjord is located at the southern end of South Georgia and is a green-water fjord surrounded by high cliffs on each side and has a pretty blue-ice glacier at its head. Small pieces of ice that break off of the glacier float slowly out to sea. Small fresh waterfalls, formed from melting snow and ice, appear along the fjord. This fjord is reminiscent of the fjords in Norway.

    In the afternoon, we launched Zodiacs and toured Cooper Bay. It is still strange after these several weeks in Antarctica to see so many green plants. There is so much wildlife here; and I am told that this is just a small sampling of what we will see in the coming days. The shoreline is filled with king, gentoo, and macaroni penguins. Young fur seal pups are everywhere on the beach and in the water. Like juveniles of all species, they are full of vigor and playful spirit. They play-fight among themselves constantly and occasionally chase or nip at the penguins. The penguins, though, peck back and once poked in the head with one of those big penguin beaks, the pups think twice about getting too close again.

    The air is filled with petrels, arctic terns, and shags. I think that South Georgia is going to be a very special place to visit and I am already considering the next visit here; probably during October or November to see the other wildlife and behaviors.

    Leaving Cooper Bay, we made our way to Grytviken to check in. We also picked up a government representative who will travel with us during our South Georgia explorations. He will be observing us and reporting to the self-governing IAATO group about how we interact with the wildlife and environment. These checks are randomly done as part of the self policing of the expedition operators and our turn came this time.