Gold Harbor is the home of a King Penguin colony. There were literally thousands of pairs of King Penguins, along with many Fur Seals and several Elephant Seals. Many of the Kings had already laid their eggs, one each, and were already incubating them. The males and females take turns. The egg is rested on their feet and then it is cover with what is basically a layer of belly fat. Who ever is not with the egg goes into the sea for food. The incubation period is four months. While there I was able to hike to a higher point where I got a great view of the entire beach.
After lunch the ship headed to Cooper Bay and a colony of Macaroni Penguins. They were not easily accessible and we had to climb a hill and view the from above. Each group spent about an hour there and then we had a Zodiac cruise in and around the bay to see more isolated groups of Macaroni Penguins and also to just see the sights.
We all returned to the ship and the Captain headed to, Drygalski Fjord. For me this turned out to be the highlight of the day. The fjord is located at the very eastern end of South Georgia and runs inland for 4-5 miles. The mountains came right down to the water and I spotted at least a dozen glaciers. At the very end of the fjord was a huge glacier and the ship got to within a hundred yards of it. We did get to see a few carvings. It was extremely windy and cold but I spent most of the time on the bow deck.
ILYB
Macaroni Penguins
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