Another interesting morning exploring Grytviken which was the location of a large whaling station, but it also is where the explorer Ernest Shackleton is buried. Grytviken has a church, a museum, gift shop and a little post office where we had a chance to mail some postcards. It will be fun to see how long they take to arrive!
There were a few King Penguins, lots of Antarctic Fur Seals (more juveniles rather than pups), and a large group of Elephant Seal, more than we've seen at other landings. The Elephant Seals are cute (?) as pups, however, they are very large babies. Unfortunately, the adults are rather homely creatures.
It was quite foggy this morning due to warmer temps, but cleared up nicely. Now we are headed to Hercules Bay, where hopefully it will be clear enough to take Zodiac cruises along this inlet's coastline to see Macaroni Penguins who nest on rocky cliffs. That is why is was so funny to see the lone Macaroni the other day mixed in with the King Penguin rookery.
The next two days will be sea days as we make our way to Elephant Island and the beginning of Antarctica! Hope you enjoy the pictures. Cheers! Rick & Paula
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| Looking toward Grytviken. King Penguins on the beach, glacier waterfall and Whaler's Cemetery |
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| Elephant seals performing. This big boy has his back to us and sat straight up backwards. The small seal is a fur seal |
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| Elephant seals arguing. They are so big and cumbersome they only come on land for breeding purposes. Otherwise they stay in the water. They can only "inch worm" they way a few feet before needing to rest. |
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| Headstone of Ernest Shackelton |
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Whale bones left from when the station was an active whaling
community. |
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| Whaler's Church Alter |
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| Whalers Church..restored |
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| Whaling ship left moored by the processing area |
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| Rick called this "wino's alley"! |
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| Baby Elephant seal born this season. Look at those eyes! |
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| Blubber boiler. The oil from the blubber was stored in big tanks. |
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| This little fur seal was trying to escape the "kindergarten" which is where juvenile fur seals spend their time learning the ropes...too cute! |
So glad to see you are enjoying the adventure. Certainly do not want to hear about Silver Sea getting stuck in the ice flows of Antarctica! Finally warmer here to melt some of the snow from last week.
ReplyDeleteI am starting to get very jealous!
ReplyDeleteOk, you can bring a fur seal if not a penguin. ;)
ReplyDeleteLOVE the picture of the church!