FALKLAND ISLANDS | SOUTH GEORGIA | ANTARCTICA
On October 10, I left my home in Minnesota at 2 am to start the long journey to Ushuaia, Argentina where I boarded the ship Ushuaia. Our destination? The Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. This was another Muench Workshop. I chose this particular trip because it retraced a lot of, explorer, Ernest Shackleton’s journey as described in the book Endurance. I found out later that this was considered a wildlife workshop. I consider myself a portrait and landscape photographer. As a result, this wildlife newbie came prepared to learn! And I think my photos got better and better as the trip went on.
Ushuaia is the capitol city of the Tierra del Fuego Province in Argentina. It lies below the 54th parallel south latitude and claims the title of world’s southernmost city. A wild thing happened in Ushuaia - I ran into my niece/goddaughter Maggie. She was studying abroad in Buenos Aires and just happened to take a trip to “the end of the world” at the same time I was there. We got to spend a little over an hour together exploring the city. I really liked the murals on the buildings (the two below were my favorites). [Postscript - I sent the pictures of Maggie and I to the Burke family text group. My daughter Caitlin replied: “you both have a very unique idea of a vacation…”]
The boat we were on was originally built for the NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration a U.S. agency). Rumor has it that during the cold war this vessel had CIA agents on board along with NOAA scientists. While the scientists worked on their projects - the agents spied on Cuba. This was a working boat. No elevator or stairs but rather ship stairs or ship ladders which are steep with narrow steps. Two hands were required at all times. We had rough seas pretty much the whole trip. On the bright side my sea legs were in great shape for the infamous Drake Passage which has the roughest seas in the world. They say you can have the Drake Lake or the Drake Shake. We had the shake, and it really upped the adventure level.
The Ushuaia in Stromness Bay, South Georgia
The Falkland Islands is a British Territory with a population of about 4,000. The capital city is Stanley. It is most known for the 1982 Falkland War between Great Britain and Argentina
South Georgia is about 870 miles east of the Falkland Islands. It’s about 106 miles long by 27 miles wide. It has a population of 40 (less in the winter). South Georgia is considered one of the most remote and least visited places on earth. It is also a breeding ground for king penguins, elephant seals and fur seals. It has rugged mountains that rise steeply from the sea. Ernest Shackleton is buried in Grytviken, South Georgia. Our group had a little ceremony at his grave. We all received a shot glass of whiskey. One of the guides gave an eloquent toast, we took a small sip of whiskey and poured the remainder on his grave.
The Antarctic Peninsula is the part of Antarctica that is the furthest away from the South Pole. There are over 60 research stations run by 30 different nations on the continent. A few nations have made the claim of sovereignty but none of the claims have international recognition. Antarctica is the coldest and windiest continent on Earth. It contains 70% of the world’s fresh water and is covered by an ice sheet 2.5 miles deep.
Biosecurity was a big deal on this trip. We were trained in how to clean our boots and clothing to make sure we did not bring anything from one island to the next. This included walking through pans of cleaning chemicals, scrubbing our boots/clothes and checking any Velcro or creases for seeds. Representatives of South Georgia came aboard for a random inspection before our first landing. We passed!
Now onto the good stuff. The pictures! I’m going to start with the birds. I did a much better job capturing them when they were not in flight. During my second attempt, on this trip, I let out a shout of joy when I finally got a picture with the flying bird in the frame. Of course, it was just part of a wing, and the wing was blurry, but I did it! Admittedly, the “birds in flight” bar was low to begin with - maybe even at ground level.
Below (from l-r) Black-browed Albatross on West Point Island, Striated Cara Cara & female Kelp Goose on Carcass Island, Blue-eyed Shag standing & in flight on Saunders Island, Giant Petrel in St. Andrew’s Bay. Every location was in the Falklands except for the last image which was taken in South Georgia. Click on any of the images in this blog to see them at full resolution.
Next up - the seals. I have titled the image of the elephant seal (top left) - You Should See the Other Guy. It was mating season which means there is a lot of fighting between the males. This guy left the beach and traveled inland to lick his wounds. These seals were pretty cute but you had to be on guard because they can be dangerous. You didn’t want to get between two fighting bulls. Observation: the elephant seal bulls seemed to have a lot of “me too” moments and I felt for the ladies who weigh 1,000 to 2,000 pounds while the males weight up to 9,000 pounds. The bulls looked willing and able but the females looked much less enthused.
The penguins were hands down my favorite wildlife on the trip. The first row below is the King Penguins on Salisbury Plain, So. Georgia. The King Penguins were simply majestic and for some reason I felt the need to bow in their presence, although I resisted that urge. Second row are the adorable chinstraps at Half Moon Bay in the South Shetland Islands. Third row (from l-r) is the Magellanic penguins on Carcass Island (Falklands), the Rockhopper penguin on West Point Island (Falklands) and the Gentoo penguins on D’Hainaut Island (Antarctica).
Welcoming committee at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia
The scenery on this trip was incredible.
Blue-Eyed Shags line the top of the cliff on Half Moon Island, Antarctic Peninsula. A glacier provides the perfect backdrop.
View from the ship of a colony of Gentoo penguins on D’Hainaut Island, Antarctic Península
Mountain view from Whaler’s Bay enroute to Deception Island, Antarctic Peninsula
This is my favorite image from the trip taken from a zodiac in St. Andrew’s Bay, South Georgia. The penguins are on dry land but a wave, between the zodiac and the shore, is obscuring their bottom half.
This post is dedicated to my grandfather, Paul Stanley Burke Sr. (aka Gramps), who planted the travel seed in me. When I was in Junior High, he took a long trip through Europe and Asia. Before he left, he gave me a map and asked if I could plot his journey. His plan was to send me a postcard from each place he visited. I did the best I could despite the fact that I never received any of the postcards he sent from a communist country. I have to say this project really opened my eyes to the world and I came away with a desire to see as much of it as I could.