Day 15 - Fortuna Bay to Stromness

We had another bumpy night with the ship showing miles out to sea at 2.30 am, we awoke to the beautiful Fortuna Bay which is a fjord with 2 glaciers flowing into it.




We had an early first landing at 8.30.  We walked along the west side of the fjord to see more King Penguins and Fur Seals.





Fur Seal pup - 2 months old

Skua

Reindeer Antlers - many years old.
The Norwegiens tried to introduce Reindeer but
they became evasive and had to be removed

Paul overlooking huge King Penguin Colony

Seals in stream


Field of Seals

Fur seals

Fur Seal Pups playing

Dont touch my baby or I will slap you

King penguin



After lunch we went on The Shackleton Hike from the east side of Fortuna Bay across the mountain pass to Stromness.  This was the last part of Shackletons cross country journey across South Georgia before being rescued.   It was around 7.5 km and was a very hard but rewarding climb. 


Starting out from Fortuna Bay

View over Fortuna Bay

View over Fortuna Bay

The group climbing up the pass

The terrain we walked over

View while climbing from Fortuna Bay
Mountain Lake between Fortuna Bay and Stromness

View from top of pass to Stromness

The group descending towards Stromness
Waterfall at bottom of descent into Stromness

Valley view at Stromness

White Seal at Stromness - 1 in 1000 fur seals are white

King Penguins at Stromness

Gentoo Penguins at Stromness

Stromness former Whaling Station

Early evening the ship sailed to the former whaling plants of Leith Harbour and Husvik.

                                
Leith former Whaling Station










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 16 - Salisbury Plain and Elsehul

Image
We woke up just as we were sailing into the Bay of Isles on the North Coast of South Georgia.  Several glaciers flow into this bay. Bay of Isles Bay of Isles Bay of Isles Bay of Isles  Our morning landing was at Salisbury Plain, which is a wide valley within the Bay of Isles, at the foot of a Glacier. Salisbury Plain  We had difficulty landing the zodiacs because there were so many Penguins in the sea and at the landing point.  We walked along the shore to a very large penguin colony.  King Penguins asleep Penguin carcass  Penguins in the river  The King Penguin colony - all the way up the hill Giant Petrel flying over the Penguin chicks Paul photographing Penguins  King Penguin King Penguin Multi coloured fur seal Seal paw Black browed Albatross Sea of Penguins Slapping ritual  More slapping Seal pup feeding Giant Petrel feeding on Seal in the lake. Penguin behaviour Penguins crossing the stream Penguins in the sea and at landing point ...
Read more

Day 10 - Antarctica Peninsula to Elephant Island

Image
It was misty and snowing when we woke up with no land in sight. We had left the Antarctic Peninsula and were sailing south of the South Shetland Islands.  Goodbye Antarctica There were a few interesting birds around. Wilson Storm Petrel Albatross? Albatross? Cape Petrel Southern Fulmar Snow Petrels Throughout the morning we sailed along the Bransfield Strait between the North Western part of the Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.  South Shetland Islands We had a very good lecture on Icebergs and Glaciers from the on board Geologist followed by an excellent talk from the on board historian on the story of Ernest Shackleton's voyage to Antarctica from 1914 to 1916. In the afternoon there were a lot of Cape Petrels around the ship Murmuration of Cape Petrels  At 8.00pm we sailed close to Elephant Island which is where Shackleton and his crew eventually found land during their epic voyage between 1914 and 1916 and from where they were rescued. Approx location of Valent...
Read more

Day 2- Punta Arenas and boarding the Fram

Image
It was a very early start, getting up at 3.30 and leaving the hotel just after 5 to catch our flight to Punta Arenas.  I was fortunate to get a window seat and had spectacular views of the glaciers and fjords of the Chilean Torres del Paine national park. We had another covid test before we were allowed to board.  Everyone was negative.  We had lunch and unpacked and went to explore the ship.  It was warm and sunny on deck.  There were a lot of different seabird around which I have yet to identify. The Fram sailed at 7.15 and we went on deck to watch us leave and sail down the Magellen Straight.  Not sure which route she will take but we were told she will make a short stop at Puerta Williams in Tierra del Fuego to clear Chilean waters. For meals we are seated with a couple from Worcester.  They are very nice and good company. 
Read more