I awoke a full hour earlier than our 7am wake up PA as Simon had mentioned to passenger Mike how lovely the entrance into Grytvikin harbour was, and we were scheduled to arrive at 6am. Unfortunately the hills were shrouded in mist but it was snowing again(!) so that was nice surprise. We arrived on schedule and the captain anchored up in the middle of the bay and while we breakfasted he cleared us in to customs and immigration. After breakfast there was a very interesting slide presentation put on by two women from the island: a researcher and museum associate on the rat depopulation of the island, of all things, but it showcased how concerned scientists and environmentalists are about the importance of this island and the devastating effect that an invasive species can have. They think their effforts have now eradicated the rats and hope that the native small bird population will eventually recover.
We journeyed ashore for our first excursion through heavily falling snow and were directed up a safety zone set by the staff between the elephant and fur seals to the local cemetery. This is a favorite sightseeing stop as it’s the burial place of Ernest Shackleton, a famous polar explorer who commanded the ill-fated Endurance voyage. We all toasted the Boss with a wee dram of Whiskey, then met up again with the museum associate for a very interesting tour of the old whaling station at Grytviken.
Whaling was a major industry here from 1908 to 1966, over 170,000 whales were slaughtered for their oil, blubber, and meat. It decimated the whale populations which have yet to recover and almost brought the fur seals to extinction. The rusting hulks of the abandoned machinery are a somber testament to the exertion of man’s will over nature.
We only had time to return to the boat for lunch and a short rest before we were anchored in Jason Harbor and due for excursion #2. The snow dissipated, and the early afternoon light was perfect for what laid ahead. And what was that? Seals! Tons of frisky adolescent fur seals and a few very lazy, huge elephant seals. The fur seals were so territorial that several times the guides had to fend them off by waving their arms at them and making loud noises; and it was too dangerous for us to walk along the beach (never walk between a seal and its escape route to the sea!) so we had to venture far inland over the rough hillocks of grassy tussocks to circumnavigate the seals. It wasn’t so much a problem for the two hiking groups that set out to conquer the nearby hills, but for us slow pokes, oldies, or fanatic photographers it was quite a challenge and rather exhausting. The images we all caught were spectacular but we all mentioned how sore and tired we were when we got back to the boat!
Nate, the expedition leader, had been in contact with other cruise ships in the area and based on their experiences with local weather and sea conditions decided to change our itinerary a bit so we’re now going to Gold Harbor tomorrow morning. The sunrise on the landscape is supposed to be beautiful, we hope so, as we have a 4:45am wake up call coming!
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