A day of lectures on 25 Feb…..one of the lectures was about how krill is the linchpin of the Antarctic and Scotia Sea ocean ecosystem. Krill is the main food of Baleen whales (e.g. Killer, Humpback, Minke), fur seals, penguins. Krill is also eaten by many species of fish and squid, so even though some species of whale, seal and birds don’t eat krill themselves, they ultimately depend on krill, because they feed on krill-eating prey.

Rodolpho told us that the impact of trawling for krill has been huge – haulage has increased from 100,000 tons to 300,000 since 2005 ->over 50% goes to feed salmon being farmed (oil and meal) and the other 50% to the pharmaceutical industry for omega (krill oil) tablets.  The Commission for the Conservation of Antartic Marine Living Resources (The Krill Convention, CCAMLR) is working with the fishing/whaling communities to manage the ecosystem so that sufficient krill abundance for  predators and dependent species is available.    He’s written a paper for the Commission titled: “Unhappy feet: the 50% reduction of Adelie and Chinstrap penguins in the west of Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia sea during last 30 years in the South Shetland Islands” – with ecosystem management strategy suggestions.

On 26 Feb, our first sighting of South Georgia was around Paradise Bay, where we saw the extraordinary sight of tabular berg B17A, which calved off the Ross Ice Shelf 16 years ago, floating in the sea. Its some 7 miles long and wide!   

And as a special present to us, it calved in front of us, a huge part of the wall facing us, crashing into the sea. And I was ready to snap the ‘action’. Incredible power!!    

Then we rounded the corner of Cape Disappointment – named by Captain Cook after thought he had discovered the long sought-after Southern continent, until he turned the corner and found he was looking westwards towards the Willis Islands, and so had only discovered a long, narrow island. 

Our travel through the Drygalski fjord was very dramatic – howling wind, snowflakes falling while we sailed past towering dark chocolate brown mountains, glaciers either side of the fjord with waterfalls cascading down and finally the Risting glacier at the fjord’s end. The weather improved and we got some sun on the glacier before we left.  

A beautiful afternoon to take photos on deck – a panorama of landscape when we exited the fjord and entered Cooper Bay;  

an iceberg that looked like a frosted wedding cake in the sun;  

a collection of Storm Petrels ‘dancing’ on the surface of the water, dipping their feet while they seized small fish and crustaceans. The ‘dancing’ is a technique for saving energy while airborne. 

And a lovely group of penguins ‘porpoising’ through the water at the side of the ship’s bow.  Another amazing day!