Our day began very early at 445AM for a pre-breakfast zodiac ride to Cape Rosa where Sir Ernest Shackleton found refuge on his 1914-16 polar expedition after sailing back from Elephant island on the Antarctica archipelago to South Georgia.
For our second outing of the day (after breakfast), Jerry and I were among 12 kayakers to paddle our way through Haakon Bay past ginormous Elephant seals, Fur seals, and King penguin colonies. While Avian Influenza did not permit physical landings in the area, our kayak trip took us as close as possible to the amazing wildlife in front of us.
The history of this remote land would not be complete without discussions of its less illustrious past as the whaling headquarters where nearly 98% of all blue whales (as well as other species) where brutally harpooned to agonizing deaths. First ashore in whaling centers like the one we visited in Grytviken, then by the mid-60’s on massive “factory killing ships” on the high seas at the peak of the industrial age of destruction.
For an excellent historical overview, I recommend reading A history of whaling | National Science and Media Museum www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/history-whaling
The solace I take from this visit to South Georgia is the fact that whaling did stop and today, this place that alone processed close to 200,000 whales, serves as a research center where British marine scientists study these magnificent creatures with the purpose of protecting and nurturing their return. More adventures ashore await us tomorrow.
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