Early morning landing at Salisbury Plain on South Georgia Island. Salisbury Plain is the second largest King Penguin colony on the island. In complete contrast to St Andrew’s, the Plain is free of snow, and is dominated by the King’s. Relatively few fur seals are present, those that are there are resting in the sun-lit tussac. Thousands upon thousands of penguins extend up the hill-side, and like St Andrew’s, there are still eggs to be hatched, some very young chicks, young oakum boys, fledging juveniles, and moulting adults. We are the last ship in the area for the summer season. The King Penguins seem to know this, and if you stand still, they will gather around and inspect you closely. The fur seals on the other hand, seem happy to see us leave their beaches!
This afternoon we visit Prion Island, the only ‘rat-free’ island in the group. Home to the South Georgia pitpit, a tiny song-bird of the lark family, Prion Island is also home to nesting Wandering Albatrosses. The wandering albatrosses are at home for visitors, and put on a display of aerial flying. One of the older albatrosses is nesting, and reveals a tiny chick nestled under her feathers. We also spot another blond fur seal pup, making it four sighted so far on this trip. This particular pup is sun-baking on a rock, and has dried out sufficiently to show how pale its coat actually is.
After a short visit to Possession Bay, the location where Captain Cook claimed South Georgia for King George III, we set sail for Tristan da Cunha, another four days of open ocean ahead of us.
