Elsehul Bay

February 25

In the afternoon, we went to Elsehul Bay on the far northwestern end of South Georgia. Lindblad had not made a landing here in many many years because usually poor landing conditions  and becasue of a fur-seal incident - (injuries cuased by aggressive breeding fur seals). This time of year there were only babies on the beach and the landing conditions were fine. This is one of the few areas that had remaining seals when most of the sealing operations stopped, and they have made a BIG comeback. So big in fact that they are destroying their own habitat - the tussock mounds are completely flattened, and mud and seal carnage is everywhere. The population is believed to be growing so fast because of the abundance of krill since the whale populations have declined so dramatically. There have been reports that fur seals have eaten penguins, possibly due to over-population, which would be a major behavioral change for the species.

Once on the shore, the hiking conditions were pretty miserable - rain rain rain and more of the amazing boot-sucking mud and fur seal babies everywhere. We started to climb up to the ridge for some views, but it just became too difficult. A few intrepid birders made it up to the top of a different ridge to see the nests of the light-mantled sooty albatross (I think). We spent our time ashore watching the babies (including some who were still nursing), examining the flotsam and jetsam on the beach (lots of seal bones here...) and watching some king penguins - some of which had eggs which was odd because usually you need a lot more kings to have breeding but who knows...

	Elsehul Bay
	South Georgia
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