We woke up to brilliant sunshine on the blue water as we approached Gold Harbor, our first stop. After breakfast and suiting up, we were reminded of the bio-security measures and to remain 5m away rom wildlife. A quick Zodiac took us to the rocky beach, and there were what seemed like at least a million King penguins. Their trumpeting calls carried across the whole harbor area. As we landed some rushed up to us, and we had to pull back to stay a good distance away from them. As we realized how many there were, as far as the eye could see and certainly to hear, we were gradually surrounded by curious reddish-brown-eyed penguins. Nearby were some enormous elephant seals - no big mature males, but some young males and females and one young one, They lay over each other and somehow don’t seem to mind, then every so often one will decide to move and push the others away which involved much grunting, exhalations, and some grumbles as well as a bit of gritty sand flung on top of themselves. I stayed far back, mindful that they can move quite quickly on shore despite their enormous size.
We walked down the beach, waiting the varied behaviors of the larger King penguins and the much smaller Gentoo penguins, and both species still had a few that were molting who looked deeply uncomfortable. Everywhere they would raise their beaks vertically to trumpet to other penguins, and they moved along the beach, often in groups of 3-6, and seemed to walk rather than waddle. Several times we saw groups of four that looked like a barbershop quartet ready to break into song. There were lots of first-year pups and second-year seal as well, chasing each other and wrestling, so much like Marley and his buddies, just having fun, not trying to dominate or claim land. They would “walk” along the beach using their front flippers and a swing their black flippers to propel themselves quite quickly.We were on the beach for two hours, just walking the stretch we were able to go on (before the penguins became too dense to avoid). I decided this might be a god time to sing, so I moved to the far edge of the beach and tried a bit of “Must the Winter Come So Soon” by Samuel Barber, which I had thought would be appropriate. The penguins seemed to notice - at least some tuned toward me - so that seemed to be something they could hear. Next I sang “Piangero la sorte Mia” by Handel which definitely got their interest, and quite a few stopped and seemed to watch me, very cool. Finally, I sang “Porgi amor” by Mozart which they really seemed to like and they moved toward me and I really do think they were listening. You can always count on Mozart. It was time to head back to the embarkation point, so we slowly worked our way back through the crowds of penguins and active seals and past the barely moving elephant seals (except for the occasional enormous snorts). What an experience, to be surrounded by the sigh and sound of these amazing birds and animals.
Back to the ship for a burger lunch (I tried the soy burger, it was fine), and there were fresh donuts for dessert. Knowing Barney’s love of donuts, I offered to order one to get one for him so he could have two. After he ate his chocolate one, I gave him my raspberry-topped one which he also enjoyed. Reuben joked that he was like the leopard seals after they swallowed a tasty penguin and we all laughed heartily.
After going by some lovely small icebergs, one of which looked like a skyline, we arrived at Cooper Bay, our afternoon Zodiac area. Our group will be much later, so we came back to the cabin to read and rest a bit. What a day it has already been!
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