This morning we visited Gold harbor, near the southern end of South Georgia and Ocean Harbour on the north coast of South Georgia. Gold Harbour is backed by an amphitheatre of hanging glaciers and cliffs at the base of the Salvesen Range. The rapidly retreating Bertrab Glacier has left a series of lagoons, the largest of which is lined by a wave-swept moraine which marks its recent extent The northern entrance to the bay is protected by Gold Head and a series of Huffs and cliffs which jut out to the east Nestling between the bluffs of Gold Head and a steep-sided lateral moraine to the south, lies a tussac-covered glacial outwash plain riddled with small streams and pools, it is the site of a large king penguin colony.
One of the largest King Penguin Colonies
An Elephant Seal on the beach.
Penguin chicks at the colony
An elephant Seal pup. Very friendly and curious. Mothers feed them for 3-4 weeks after birth and leave them on the beach to figure out life on their own. They are called "wieners" or "sausages" since they are plump and look like sausages. They have to figure out everything from heading to the waters, to hunt for squid!
Video chronicler Josh with a seal pup
Ocean Harbour is a deeply indented bay on the north coast of South Georgia. It was an active whaling station between 1909-1920, and old sealing trypots can still be seen here. There is also the wreck of the Bayard here, a 1300 tonne, 67 m (220 ft) long, iron hulled boat built in 1864. Moored at the cooling station at 1911, a gale blew her loose across the bay, where she lies now. Ocean Harbour has a small cemetery with eight graves including the oldest known grave on the island - that of Frank Cabrial (1820) of the sealer Francis Allen. The first Reindeer to South Georgia were also introduced here by Norwegian whaling entrepreneur Carl Anton Larsen and his brother in November 1911.
Bayard
Remnants of a Whaling Station at Ocean Harbour
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