Behold the Beachmaster!! This guy was huge! And he just won a fight in the water, dueling with another smaller male elephant seal. His post-victory end-zone dance/celebration/chest pounding/I-am-seal-hear-me-roar, was close to a minute long. It was a deep, gut-punching, machine gun like belch, over and over, until he made sure no other male would mess with him. It is said this roar can be heard from over mile away and I strongly concur, sitting no more than maybe 100ft away. With a slight chill in the air, he was expending so much effort doing this, that you can even see steam protruding from its open mouth. The rawness of nature is so amazing. Gold Harbour, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands GPS Coordinates: 54°37'2.597" S 35°56'21.348" W
The thing I loved about St. Andrews Bay, was the variety of terrain we got to walk around on, that covered a wide expanse of the bay. You could either stay down near the shoreline, wandering the almost 3 mile long stretch of the beach, or head up into the hilly terrain, where a lot of the King Penguins reside. Their massive colony, the largest on the island at nearly 500,000, was further up from the beach, and to get there, you had to hike up these hills for a good twenty minutes. All along the way, you would find these solo Kings, just chilling, standing all by their lonesome, as if they were lost or just needed some alone me-time, away from the colony. If I were a penguin here, I would probably do the same, for when you were standing on the hill overlooking the colony, the noise was almost deafening. St. Andrews Bay, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands GPS Coordinates: 54°26'16.601" S 36°11'22.205" W
Just like I have mentioned before, Gold Harbour was one of my favorite landings in South Georgia. The Kings here were especially curious and bold and would waddle not more than a few feet or less to you, inspecting you like some detective on a murder case, moving its head from one side to the other. And their eyes were so expressive and emotive. They would sit for many minutes at a time, staring at you all beady eyed. I so wish I knew penguin talk, like the Dog Whisperer but for penguins. “Hey buddy, what’s up? How’s it going? Catch any good fish today? Water chilly?" At that moment, I came to the realization that if I could redo my career path from experiencing and knowing what I know now then, I would in a heartbeat have taken a path that involves something with these magnificent mammals. I am just lucky enough to have experienced this firsthand, all thanks to my passion for photography. Gold Harbour, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands GPS Coordinates: 54°37'3.479" S 35°56'31.313" W
