TNTC

Meaning: Too Numerous To Count! We awoke early this morning, and saw land. After two days of pure ocean we have found the isolated oasis of South Georgia. A bit over 100 miles long, South Georgia is a series of sharply peaked mountains, often divided by glaciers. It is beautiful. The ship slipped into a cove, we gulped down our breakfast, and quickly wiggled into our warm weather gear. This was the moment we had all openly been waiting for.

Salisbury Plain is our landing for the morning, selected for the massive numbers of king penguin, fur seal, and elephant seal scattered all over the beach; then reaching beyond, over a plain of earth and tussock grass, and continuing up the mountain slope. TNTC! The penguins were right there, greeting us, as the Zodiac landed. The sun was poking out, allowing the water to appear blue. A relatively calm wind was occasionally whipped up into a brief barrage. You could immediately pick up on a strong musky odor from the male fur seals that have been getting ready for the females, soon to make an appearance. No more than 10 feet onto the beach and we could observe an elephant seal cow nursing her pup; completely unconcerned that we were within arms reach. Is this real? The vast number of wildlife was staggering. We had hours to quietly walk within this throng and make ourselves at home.

King penguin greeting

"Did you see that one over there with the fuzzy brown coat?" you said. "Wow, if you look over there, see it?, there is a whole field of them" I respond. The young wooly brown penguins are looking for parents that have returned to sea; and this makes them very curious to see if you might have a meal available to regurgitate. They need to molt this coat, and eventually instinct will take them to the water. "Come on, lets go over there and sit down" I whisper, thinking to just spend some time amidst the movement, the curiosity, and the whistling calls of the adults and their chicks. Hey, where did you go? I turned in a circle and found you wandering into the sparse grasses, staring at the brown smooth lumps of sleeping seals scattered here and there. You must have startled one, because it opened its mouth wide and barked at you. It made me laugh loudly when you jumped back a few feet, nearly falling over that sleeping penguin.

This is so much fun! Waddling penguins, sometimes alone, or often in single file moving from someplace to somewhere, with no apparent purpose other than to waddle. Often preening their impeccable white coat, or just going in for swim. They may tuck there heads in to sleep, or rest back on their heels and hunker down. I recorded about 60 mins of video in two hours; only stopping because the morning's coffee was sending me back to ship with a full bladder. We must remember to not drink any morning fluids on days like this. What in the world will I do with all of this video?

While I work on getting something viewable, lets wind back the clock and enjoy a reminder of our visit to the farm in the Falkland Islands.