Nov 20 -- A long day (and a long write-up)

First, apologies....Pictures still being difficult to upload. We'll provide as allowed by the service...

Well, today started at 5:20 am due to an early landing on the Salisbury plain. There is a king penguin colony and a hideaway for Fur and Elephant seals (males) that are not able to hold a breeding beach with the females. We disembarked at about 6AM after a brief breakfast. The colony was amazing. There were literally tens of thousands of King Penguin pairs with hundreds (if not thousands) of chicks.
Littering the beach were hundreds of seals, both fur seals and elephant seals. The fur seals are not “true” seals. They can actually stand on their four (two front, two back) flippers, and they walk on all four. Frankly, they are capable of outrunning a human, especially on rough terrain. They also have “ears”. They are aggressive and have teeth, and have been known to charge and bite humans. Many would climb up on tussock grass (a little podium of dirt and grass) and sleep in various positions. They would pick up their heads and grunt or bark at us, and frequently fought each other. Most of the fighting seemed to be playful but some was not so much.
The elephant seals are much different. They are much larger, have smooth fur, and their forward flippers are not much help in moving. They look like slugs, and undulate most ungracefully to move forward. The bulls are enormous, upwards of 8100 lbs, while the cows are “merely” 1750 lbs. The pups are born only a couple feet long (not sure the weight). They are born with adult sized eyes, which makes them look huge on their baby faces. Elephant seals have large nasal cavities, and lots of mucus (apparently). So, they clear their noses with a burst of air. That sounds nice doesn’t it? Really, it sounds like huge farts. So, you are walking along, in awe of the natural beauty, the mountains, the seals sunbathing, the penguins, and “Pbbbttt!!!” right next to you. Quickly followed by another Pbbtt! Pbbtt!!
The King Penguins are very similar to the Emperor Penguins of “March of the Penguins” fame, but slightly smaller (only about 3 feet tall instead of 4). In a way, it was like a penguin version of NYC. Crowds of them shuffled hither and thither and yon, seemingly having a purpose, but not necessarily evident to us. Occasionally, there would be a traffic jam. If an elephant seal was coming through (or a few inconsiderate people), the penguins would stop, and wait. The rest in the line piled up behind him like a traffic jam. As soon as the way was clear, off they’d go again.
Nearer to the rookery, we saw chicks mixed throughout the colony. The chicks had not fledged (molted their warm feathers for flight feathers), so were furry and brown, like a teddy bear. Many were in process, so looked shaggy and unkempt. The air was filled with the barking fur seals, the flatulent elephant seals, and the baulking and clucking and clicking of the penguins, and lets not forget the waft of guano. Ten thousand birds? Tens of thousands of bird pooh splotches!
I sat down near a few and waited a few minutes. After 2-3 minutes, the threesome noticed me, and started checking me out. One would look over, eye me, and take a few steps toward me. The others followed. They would stand a few minutes, acting casual, and then look my way again. Soon, they were creeping closer and closer, just a few steps at a time. After 5-10 minutes, they were within 5 feet of me, and the “leader” looked at me, stretched his neck out trying for a closer look. It was very much like we might try to sneak up on wildlife, but in reverse. I got some very nice closeups. Alas, we can only upload a small selection, so instead of a dozen or two pix, we have to whittle down to four or so.
We returned to the ship, had lunch, and then cruised over to Stromness, an abandoned whaling station. We pulled up to within a few hundred yards (very deep bay), but did not disembark. From there, we headed over to Grytviken (Grit-vicken), another site of an abandoned whaling station, complete with three decrepit whaling boats, a museum, graveyard, and post office. Everyone (that cared to) disembarked and went to the graveyard. There, we had a short speech by the Captain, complete with Champaign, and toasted Ernest Shackleton, who was buried there. It was a little bizarre drinking Champaign in a graveyard, but I didn’t complain. The folks who were buried there mostly worked at the whaling station from about 1910 to 1950’s. The youngest I saw was 18, and the eldest was 71; but most were in their 30’s or 40’s. In all, there were about 100-150 graves. From the graveyard, we reboarded Zodiacs and crossed the bay, to the Post Office, and walked along the road by the beach to the Museum. Along the way, there were a few random birds, and several elephant seals burping at us. More than once we missed the seal visually, only realizing the presence audibly with a rude announcement! But, it gave us quite a few laughs.