South Georgia II - Leith and Stromness Harbours

I woke up a 3a to the sound of metallic bumping and scraping and jumped up to check that my camera wasn't being bashed about. It wasn't but I couldn't  find the source of the noise. Turns out that the anchor had come loose and was dragging as the wind shifted the ship.

There was a light rain and a big surge by the time I woke up for breakfast. They sent out a few zodiacs to see if a beach landing was possible. We got a thumbs down and it was on to plan B.

The ship repositioned to the next little harbour on the coast which is home to the ruins of Leith Whaling Station. Abandonned and off limits ruins that is, thanks to some lingering asbestos and loose corragated sheet metal. However, it was decide that we could go for a zodiac cruise and have a look
from the water.

Now there are two scottish men on the cruise, in their 60's I think, named Robbie and Robbie. Their interest in coming to this part of the world is the fact that Robbie's father and Robbie's uncle used to work at the whaling stations back in the 30's. In fact over 600 people from the Shetland Islands had come down here desperate for work.

Suffice to say that no consideration was given to sustainability and the whale population was decimated. Operations were shut down conmpletely in the 60's and what remains of the stations today is collasped storage tanks and crumbling sheds all rusted and all in very stark contrast to the stunningly
beautiful setting. There is some poetic justice in the fact that the fur seals have free run of the place...I have to hunt down the biologist and find out if the asbestos has had any effect on the wildlife.

After lunch the seas calmed, the sun came out and it was on to next cove and the next abandoned whaling station. This one with an interesting bit of history attached to it. In 1915 Ernest Shackleton's bid to cross Antarctica via the South Pole went terribly wrong when his ship was crushed by pack ice in the Weddell Sea. He and his crew managed to make their way with three life boats and some supplies to Elephant Island off of the Antarctic Penninsula. Shackleton and two of the men then took one of the boats and headed out into open sea to South Georgia Island in search of help. After 16 days and 1300 km they reached the west coast of South Georgia and then trekked across the mountains and glaciers to arrive at Stromness Whaling station - much to everyones surprise as no word had been heard from them in over 500 days. A rescue party was sent out for the remaining crew on Elephant Island. Remarkably, no one perished.

We landed at Stromness at the eastern bounadry of the station - this one is off limts as well - and headed up the riverbed to retrace the last leg of Shackleton's crossing up to the waterfall at the base of the mountains. It was a gorgeous afternoon, a sunny 7 degrees with very light winds.

We saw plenty of wildlife. One interesting tableau consisted of fur seals, king penguins and reindeer at the edge of a creek bed. The reindeer were shipped down here as an alternated food source for the whalers and have been allowed to remain and flourish in spite of not being indigenous. Today, after the Chernobyl meltdown these reindeer are the most genetically pure on the planet. The greenery is vivid and the blue sky intense - only a picture can so it justice so tune in later.

BTW apolgies for my spelling and grammar - I'm shattered by the time I write these postings but I want to do so while it's still fresh in my mind.

Sent to you over a satellite phone using GMN's XGate software.
Please be kind and keep your replies short