South Georgia Newsletter, December 2008

From South Georgia Website

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Green Power At Grytviken

Since December 15th Grytviken and King Edward Point (KEP) have been powered by hydro electricity. The first hydro power from the new station was produced for a short test session on December 6th, by the 11th it was running all day, and when the Morrison International Ltd team (who installed the new plant) left the Island on December 15th, they left the hydroelectricity running.

It is more than two years since work started to refurbish the dam at Gull Lake. Originally built by the whalers, the dam increased the capacity of Gull Lake to feed water to the first hydroelectric power plant in 1914. The electricity produced then was mainly used for lighting the whaling station. The plant was beefed up in 1928 to reduce the station’s reliance on imported coal for steam to power the factory. The electricity produced was then used to power winches and other factory equipment. Little is left of the old hydro works other than the dam. The new turbine house has been built on the site of the old whaling station radar/asdic workshop. New penstocks were also installed to feed water from the lake above to the new power station.

The new power station is very quiet; the main sound is the water pouring out from under the building through a grating and into a short watercourse to the sea. Visitors can look in through two large windows in the Turbine House and see the machinery inside.

The switch to hydropower has had a few hitches. Vital spares were hand-carried from the UK and put aboard cruise ships to get them here as quickly as possible whilst the commissioning agents were on site. A new boiler installed in the boatshed at KEP is not working well with the new power source and will need further work when the Morrison International Ltd team arrive back in March. Meanwhile the three technical staff on the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) team at KEP have had a busy time dealing with glitches and keeping a close eye on the new hydro plant in its first few days of full operation.

Water is now being harnessed to create power at Grytviken.

Bitter Disappointment

An introduced invasive plant, previously thought to be confined to KEP, has been found in another location.

The Bittercress species (Cardamine flexuosa) was first noted at KEP around 2002 and attempts to eradicate it started four years ago. The main affected areas have been sprayed with a variety of herbicides, and plants in less densely affected areas have been uprooted. The continuing battle to eradicate the plant before it spread off the Point was taken up last year by the ‘South Atlantic Invasive Species Project’ (SAISP), funded by the RSPB.

On December 22nd the plant was found for the first time outside KEP. The plant’s white flowers helped Government Officer Pat Lurcock spot it amidst long grass on the slopes above the coast below Brown Mountain, the opposite side of KE Cove. Further investigation of the area a few days later revealed a 10-metre square patch of grassland infested with many hundreds of Bittercress plants, indicating the plant has been growing and seeding in the area for some while. One thought is that the ducks, which feed in the area of the main infestation at KEP, could have carried the seeds of the plant to this new location.

Another SAISP funded project is due to start on the Island shortly. A small expedition group of botanists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and entomologists from ‘Buglife’ are travelling to South Georgia aboard the yacht “Seal”. The main thrust of their work will be to determine what impact invasive introduced species are having on South Georgia’s native species. The expedition will also consider how climate change is affecting the plants and animals on the Island.

Colin Clubbe, who heads up RBG Kew’s Overseas Territories Programme, says: “This survey is a vital first step in helping to ensure the future of South Georgia’s flora and the animal and insect life it supports. If the Island’s icy climate warms it could give invasives the chance to spread rapidly, to the detriment of South Georgia’s native wildlife.”

Gentoo Chick Mortality

(A detailed report can be downloaded as a pdf here.)

Visitors to South Georgia this season have reported that many of the Gentoo Penguin colonies are showing signs of high chick mortality. In some cases there are no chicks at all in colonies.

The Government of South Georgia has tasked scientists to collect samples of dead chicks. Diet sampling of adults is also taking place as part of longer-term monitoring which was already underway at two locations on the island.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the mortality is caused by lack of food. Gentoo penguins feed on krill which moves around in the current of the southern ocean after spawning under Antarctic ice. There have been other indications that there is a scarcity of krill around South Georgia this season, although other species which feed on krill do not appear to be affected to the same extent.

Krill is only fished in South Georgia outside the breeding season in winter months (May – August) and the swarms which are targeted will already have moved away from the Island in the currents. Krill abundance tends to be cyclical. The present lack of krill is most likely to be caused by a poor spawning season further south. The last three recorded instances of such high chick mortality were in 1991, 1994 and 1998.

As a precaution, all visitors have been asked to remain up to 200m away from gentoo colonies. This will ensure surviving birds do not suffer any undue stress from external pressures. If further research reveals a disease is identified this will also help to minimise the risk of spreading pathogens.

Fishing And Shipping News

The Icefish season got underway with the arrival of the first of six trawlers that have been allocated Icefish licenses for the 2008/9 season. The trawler arrived in Cumberland East Bay for inspection and licensing on December 26th.

December is the quietest month of the summer season for cruise ships. Several of the ten cruise ships that visited struggled to make landings due to the severe weather at the beginning of the month. Three of the ships used the Whalers Church at Grytviken for Christmas services or concerts. There will be twice as many cruise ship visits in January.

New Map For The Thatcher Peninsula

Fieldwork for a new, more detailed, map of the Thatcher Peninsula was underway this month. Alison Cook of the BAS Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC) travelled on “HMS Endurance” to spend ten days working in the area to collect reference GPS plots of notable ground features. The GPS plots are combined with high altitude aerial photographs, that should have been taken by the ship’s helicopters, to create a new topographical map.

GSGSSI requested the work for the Thatcher Peninsula, the land between Moraine Fjord and Cumberland West Bay including Grytviken and KEP, as it is an area increasingly used for research work, local travel and tourism. As Alison remarked, after using the current maps which have 100 metre contour lines, the map can miss whole land features, making route finding more challenging. With only a short stay, and a lot of ground to cover, Alison had to work in all weathers. A keen mountain walker, she said South Georgia was like nowhere else she has been, and she found the distances she had to cover tiring. She said: “it is incredibly amazing how steep, rugged and wild it all is – like the best bits of Scotland with glaciers and wildlife thrown in.”

Once back at MAGIC it should take about ten weeks to complete the new map. To make the new map the GPS plots and recognisable features are matched up with the photographs and then a photogrametric technique is applied to work out the heights. The resulting 1:25,000 map will have a less than 5 metre error margin and will be much more detailed and accurate.

Royal Marine Shackleton Crossing Adventure

A small party of Royal Marines had a challenging time on the Shackleton Crossing. The four men, led by Marine Mountain Leader Clr Sgt Pope, were dropped in at King Haakon Bay by helicopter from “HMS Endurance”. The group started out walking up Shackleton Gap and then skied across the Murray Snowfield to set up camp beneath the Trident Ridge, where they were battered by very high winds. Next day, whilst roped up and descending the steep slope on the other side of the ridge, one of the men fell and hurt his back and hand. Though not badly injured, it was enough to prevent him completing the route. Luckily the ship’s helicopter was already waiting in the area as they had the Channel 5 film crew aboard who are making a documentary about the ship, which included filming the crossing party. The injured man was evacuated back to the ship.

With one man down, the remaining three had to take a share of the extra kit, and had a “long hard slog” up to the Crean Glacier and then on to the Fortuna Glacier, where a blizzard forced them to wait in their tents for 24hrs. The challenges were not over yet - on Day 4 they dropped down to Fortuna Bay and had a difficult time crossing the deep river whilst dodging Fur Seals, before completing the route to Stromness at the beginning of December.

After “HMS Endurance” left South Georgia she sailed to South America. Whilst underway in the Chilean Channels her engine room became flooded with seawater. Commanding Officer Gavin Pritchard later wrote on the ship’s website http://www.visitandlearn.co.uk: “The situation was extremely difficult but the exceptional damage control efforts and professionalism of the ship's company kept the ship safe and help soon arrived in the form of a Chilean tug.” The ship was towed to Punta Arenas.

BSES Youngest Shackleton Crossing Group?

The British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) “Southern Endurance” 2008 expedition arrived at South Georgia aboard “HMS Endurance”. They were dropped by helicopter to Sea Leopard Fjord in the Bay of Isles on November 27th to start field training and science projects.

Though their visit coincided with a period of very poor weather, it does not seem to have stopped them on their ambitious programme. The visit was also shorter than originally planned due to changes in the ship’s itinerary.

The science programme included travelling overland to map the glacier fronts in the Bay of Isles, Possession Bay and Beckmann Fjord, and survey work on various penguin colonies.

Four of the party were later flown by helicopter to Husvik to continue the science work, whilst the 15 others set off on the Shackleton Crossing pulling pulks.

The crossing group travelled across the Morris and Purvis Glaciers to get onto the traditional route at Shackleton Gap, and then crossed the Murray Snowfield in worsening weather to camp at the base of the Trident in a total whiteout.

The second day of the crossing proved to be particularly eventful and again the weather was “not great”. Having climbed the steep slope of the Trident Ridge, it was a five-hour challenge to lower the pulks and get the people down the other side. One person got their leg stuck in a crevasse and had to be dug out, but she was, “not the only person to get up close and personal with a crevasse” as one of the pulks and the supplies it carried were lost in another crevasse.

Another complete whiteout greeted them when they woke on the third day. They set out and climbed over Breakwind Gap to make another tricky descent to Fortuna Bay where they enjoyed the luxury of camping on grass. Expectations of an easy last day proved not to be the case, with a deep river crossing, more bad weather and a final steep col to cross between Stromness and journey’s end in Husvik.

The 13 Young Explorers on the crossing think they are probably the youngest group to complete this challenging route.

Info: http://www.bses.org.uk

Fur Seals Suffer From Marine Pollution

Attempts to reduce the incidence of wildlife entanglements in marine debris will be helped by a new regulation introduced by CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) for the 2008/9 season.

At Bird Island the number of Fur Seals found entangled in debris such as fishing net, packing bands and rope, has been lower this year compared to previous years. Fourteen entangled seals have been seen since April 2008 compared to over forty during the winter of 2006. Five entangled seals have been recorded in the Grytviken area this summer.

Packing bands are not allowed on bait boxes in the South Georgia fisheries, however bands are allowed on food boxes etc if the ship has an adequate incinerator to dispose of them. When removing packing bands, regulations state they should be cut and then incinerated. The new regulation further requires the bands to be cut into small sections (approximately 30cm long).

Seals are naturally curious animals that will swim into loops of material. All too often loops of strong material such as packing bands or net will stay on the seal, tightening as it works its way down the fur, or as the animal grows. The bands eventually kill the seal.

At both Bird Island and KEP the terrestrial scientists, who are trained to handle the animals, will attempt to cut off the entangling material if they can safely do so. Working in teams of two, one person will capture the seal in a ‘dog loop’ to hold it still, whilst the other cuts the band with a special knife on a long pole.

The KEP scientists debanding a Fur Seal.

Bird Island News

By Gorfou, Zoological Field Assistant at the British Antarctic Survey Base at Bird Island.

Last month I was telling you that Wandering Albatross chicks had started to leave the island. Between 6 and 7 hundred of them fledge every year from BI; the bird with the longest wingspan, up to 3.5m, that can weight over 8 kilograms and lives for more than 60 years old. Bird Island is probably one of the islands with the highest density of wandering albatross around the Southern Ocean…

Seeing one of them flying off the island for the first time and disappearing over the horizon, where it becomes difficult to see the difference between the sea and the sky, is something magical…

For a few days already, you’ve seen this big bird with its dark brown coat flapping its wings, jumping up, clumsily trying to stay up in the air and moving forward… But it’s been thrown off balance by a stronger wind gust and falls down…

The whole thing has to be done again!! And like that, everyday you pass close to this chick that’s getting impatient to take off… or maybe hungry. Until that day when the wind is a little stronger than the previous days and the chick is ready… one more jump up, another one and another one higher… and without explanation the chick is flying across the meadows, not really sure of what is doing or where is going but it’s more or less stable this time and getting closer to the sea where it’s going to disappear in a few minutes… It’s going to fly around the Antarctic continent once, twice and maybe more before coming back to Bird Island in 5-6 years time.

Lots of people have been and had stayed on Bird Island without seeing any chicks fledging, but to see one is something that you won’t forget and makes you happy for the day.

At the same time the last chicks were leaving the island, the pairs that successfully raised a chick one year ago had laid their eggs and have started two and half months of incubation. Otherwise December on Bird Island is the time of the summer when eggs are hatching and chicks are chirping all around the island… Skuas, Grey-headed and Black-browed Albatrosses, Macaroni Penguins, Southern Giant Petrels, South Georgia Pintail ducks…

South Georgia Snippets

South Georgia historian Bob Burton spent a month on the Island continuing research into ‘Hudson’s beacons’, and other historic sites.

Assisted by his wife Jackie, Bob plotted the beacon sites, using a metal detector to find guys and other remains. The beacons were erected in 1914, on the slopes below Brown Mountain, by the navigator of the “Endurance” Hubert Hudson.

Whaling artist Eric Cummings died at the age on 87 on December 8th at his home in South Shields, UK. Many people associated with South Georgia will know Eric’s paintings of whaling ships. He traveled to South Georgia as a marine engineer working on the whaling ships and used his natural talent to paint various ships in South Georgia settings. Eric painted in watercolour and oils, and also enjoyed photography.

Fur Seal numbers continue to grow around the Island. The largest number of Fur Seal pups has been born on the study beach at Bird Island. The study site is about the size of a tennis court and more than 760 pups have been born there in recent weeks!

Around Grytviken there are once again more pups than last year. The building team left mid-month and the resulting lack of vehicles using the track between KEP and Grytviken meant the Fur Seals settled back there, making walking the track more hazardous. Two people have been bitten on the track this month.

A very aggressive and persistent Fur Seal attacked kayakers paddling at Gold Harbour. The animal repeatedly jumped up at the kayakers, biting one on the elbow, and pursued the support Zodiak.

Meanwhile the last of the Elephant Seal pups have been leaving and soon there will be none at all, but the adults are returning to moult in the smelly wallows.

Several aberrant feather-patterned King Penguins have been seen locally. Several people were fooled into thinking there was another oiling problem by a King with a black yoke of feathers, and two have been seen with black ear patches instead of the usual colourful yellow. Another odd sight was a King that was bald except for its tail feathers and a few on its head.

The King Penguin chick at Penguin River continues to do well and two adults are now brooding new eggs there.

King Penguins and Fur Seals at the beach.

Several events were held to mark Christmas. Enticed by the promise of mulled wine and mince pies, everyone gathered in the church on the 20th to decorate it, followed by a toast to Shackleton at his graveside led by historian Bob Burton, and then a guided tour of the museum.

On Christmas Eve a midnight service was held in the church. Tourists from the cruise ship “Professor Multanovskiy” joined the locals for a peculiarly South Georgian celebration. The doctor played the electric organ and the boatmen played the fiddle and penny whistle, with yachties on guitars, and a choir of scientists, museum workers and other locals to encourage lusty carol singing. The tourists replied by singing Silent Night, and with a solo of “O Holy Night” by passenger Caroline Hunt. Lesser known versions of carols included “We three Kings of Right Whale Bay” and the “Twelve Days of Christmas”….all together now… “On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: twelve weaners scratching, eleven Sheathbills strutting, ten flippers flapping, nine boaties jetting, eight FIDS a-wintering, seven saunas steaming, six bodgers bodging, five duck rings, four friendly furries, three yachts exploring, two Antarctic Terns and a penguin calling for me.”

The cruise ship scheduled to visit of Christmas Day decided to come a day later, so everyone could enjoy the huge feast for 30 served up at the BAS base.

View Of The Month

Don’t forget to see this month’s 'View of the Month' on the South Georgia Heritage Trust website.

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