South Georgia is renowned for its unspoiled scenery and abundant wildlife. In addition to reindeer, petrels and albatrosses are whales, penguins, rats and seals. The King Penguins were moulting and standing together in large groups on the beaches, waiting to get new feathers before getting back in the water to find food. The terns were aggressively defending their nests and attempting to make holes in our skulls. The Elephant seals were also moulting, and lying in groups on the hill side, just above the beach. In the snowy weather, their pungent smell was mixed with steam coming off their enormous bodies. I somehow lost the desire to hug one of them. The Fur Seals were very abundant and there were many mums feeding their puppies. On this beautiful island the Fur Seals appear to live off fish and the lower leg parts of unassuming visitors. Through so far unexplained sensing mechanisms, the Fur Seals were able to tell apart male from female visitor, and in gangs were attacking the female researchers. The beleaguered members of the research team returned shaken to the James Clark Ross, and the purchases in the second post office were mainly undertaken by the male researchers. This situation is clearly unsustainable, and unless the Fur seal population is better trained, I foresee the second post office on South Georgia to be threatened with closure shortly.
As for tonight, I will surely sleep with my earplugs firmly inserted.
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