This morning’s shore excursion was absolutely amazing. We got up at 4am to shuttle across to the beach at St. Andrew’s Bay on South Georgia, home to the island’s (and probably the world’s) largest colony of King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus). 2021 estimates suggest that the main colony contains something around 150,000 birds with adults and their young densely packed into a huge circle between the end of the glacier and the ocean. Around this, penguins and seals range for a mile or so down the beach and alluvial plain. One of the most spectacular views was of large numbers of penguins standing in the meltwater river flowing from the glacier face.
For the technically inclined...