John gave a talk this morning titled "Charismatic Megafauna of South Georgia" which discussed the bird, penguin and seal life on the island. The early whalers bought reindeer to the island in the 1910s to provide a source meat other than seals and penguins. As is typical with introduced species they did more harm than good mainly by destroying the native grasses where the birds nested. Reindeer were just recently eradicated. Rats and mice are an other nonnative species that was accidentally introduced by coming off the many ships docked in the harbors. The rats and mice ate bird and penguin eggs along with being a general nuisance. An eradication program was begun in 2012 and continues today. They are almost gone from the island.
After lunch I spent almost two hours up on the deck above the Bridge. Winds were brisk at 25-30 mph, swells were 10+ feet and the temperature was in the mid 30s but the sun was shining. I found a bench out of the wind yet in the sun and read some and just contemplated life. Most of the time I had the whole deck to myself. Poor me!
This afternoon Carol's talk was on the "History of South Georgia". The primary focus was on the whaling industry which operated here from 1904 until 1964. Over 150,000 whales were processed here at six different whaling stations which were all located in bays on the north side of the island.
At 5:30 there is a St. Patrick's Day party with all you can drink Guiness for $5. We shall see how that pans out. I guarantee that I will not have more than two as do not want my good luck with seasickness to run out.
ILYB
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