Near Stanley, the only real town on the Falkland Islands, while our colleagues toured a penguin colony from a hillside, our kayaking group paddled peacefully along a wide beach in Gypsy Cove. Penguins scampered all along the beach. Up the hill behind the beach, defensive artillery batteries rusted. This beach is where much of the 1984 war between Argentina and Great Britain was fought. We weren't allowed to go ashore because officials are still finding undetonated shells there. Once our guides told us that, my interest in getting out on the beach faded quickly.
We sailed for two full days before arriving at the northwest end of South Georgia Island. South Georgia Island offers multiple spectacular opportunities for wildlife observation. The terrain is mountainous with peaks that reach 9,629 feet down the center of the approximately 100-mile-long island. At its widest point, the island is only 22 miles wide. Glaciers flow down from the mountain ridges. The northern coast has many bays and fjords that have up to mile-wide plains. On those plains some of the largest king penguin colonies thrive next to seal and sea lion haul-out areas.
Imagine this scene as our ship pulled in St. Andrews Bay: We were surrounded on three sides by high mountains, glaciers, and rocky cliffs coming down into the water, and an expansive plain nearly covered with tiny black and white dots which were, in fact, thousands of king penguins. After we launched our kayaks, we paddled along sheer cliffs toward the beach. The beach was full of king penguins, fur seals, and a few sea lions. In the water near us, king penguins porpoised out of the water as if they were flying. The water was crystal clear, enabling us to watch them swimming as though they were flying. It was a magical experience that we repeated in three different bays along the north side of South Georgia Island.
Our ship also pulled into Stromness Bay, where Ernest Shackleton arrived after his harrowing crossing of the Drake Passage in 1916. Shackleton was the leader of an expedition to cross Antarctica on skis. His ship, the Endeavor, became surrounded by the Antarctic Sea ice. He and his men floated on the pack ice until they launched their three 22-foot rowboats and rowed to Elephant Island. After they landed on Elephant Island (which we also visited but weather conditions precluded paddling), just north of the Antarctic Peninsula, Shackleton and five men set sail for South Georgia Island. The other men remained on Elephant Island and waited for Shackleton to return.
The Shackleton team landed on the south side of South Georgia Island and had to trek across the mountains and glaciers to Stromness whaling station, operated by Norwegians. The whaling station closed in the early 1960s. No one can visit the abandoned station, as it has all sorts of toxic residues amid the rusting buildings. It stands as a stark reminder of the devastation caused by South Atlantic commercial whaling and the incredible courage of early 20th century polar explorers. Once at Stromness, Shackleton chartered boats, and on his third attempt he reached Elephant Island and rescued all the stranded seamen.
The next morning, we visited Gold Head Bay where our kayak guides lead us through ocean swells and tidal lagoons along the coast. King penguins, Macaroni penguins, and fur seals were all along beaches. Cliffs rose several hundred feet from the water's edge. Paddling through rocks that were partially submerged when swells rolled in, then rose out of the water at the trough, was exhilarating.
Upon leaving South Georgia Island, we sailed across the South Atlantic toward Elephant Island and then down the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. On the way we passed an iceberg (A23-a) the size of Rhode Island at the time. It had broken away from a glacier on the Weddell Sea where it was stuck until 2024. It has since grounded southwest of South Georgia.
The west side of the Antarctic Peninsula has numerous bays and islands that are home to amazing penguin colonies, sea and sea lion haul-out beaches, and incredible scenery. Mountain peaks rise above the deep blue ocean. Glaciers fill the ridges and valleys, and pack ice from glaciers extends into the ocean. The weather was overcast and foggy for several days, but on the morning we entered Wilhelmina Bay, the sun shone brightly and wind was calm. A perfect day for paddling in Antarctica. As we paddled through broken pack ice, some of the ice was over our heads. Bergy bits (technically pieces of ice between 2 and 5 meters) and growlers (ice less than a meter) floated in the deep blue water. We even spotted two emperor penguins on an ice flow.