South Georgia Newsletter, January 2008

From South Georgia Website

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Wandering Albatross Decline Halted?

Numbers of nesting Wandering Albatross are the highest in ten years on Albatross Island. Increases are also reported at the other major wanderer nesting site at Bird Island. After years of depressing declines, scientists are hoping that this season’s numbers might indicate the start of a reversal.

Quietly, those working most intimately with these magnificent birds have been wondering if extinction of the species was becoming inevitable. Albatross populations on other sub-antarctic islands have similarly levelled out in recent years, and then started rising. It is too early to know if this is what is happening in South Georgia but lets hope it is.

South Georgia Icefish Fishery Seeks MSC Certification

Fishing company ‘Seaview Ltd’ is seeking Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for Icefish caught by their vessels within the South Georgia Fishery. If successful the fish can be labelled with the MSC ecolabel, enabling purchasers and consumers to know that the fish is from a sustainable fishery using environmentally responsible practices.

Most of the Icefish caught in South Georgia waters is currently exported to markets in Eastern Europe. The fish has firm white flesh and subtle flavour. Managers at then Falkland Island based company ‘Seaview Ltd’ hope that MSC certification will lead to improved markets. Assessment has started, conducted by independent certifier ‘Moody Marine’, and will take about a year to complete.

Information taken from the MSC website. http://www.msc.org

Fishing and Shipping News

Two foreign research ships visited King Edward Cove this month. The Norwegian “GO Sars” has been taking geological samples in the area for the International Polar Year ‘Paleodrake Project’. A three-man field party dropped at King Edward Point (KEP) is now taking lake mud core samples in local lakes. The project is looking at historical natural climate variability across the Drake Passage. More on this project in next months’ newsletter.

The South African weather ship “SA Agulhas” came in to drop off six floating weather buoys. These were then collected by the Fishery Patrol Vessel (FPV) “Pharos SG” and will be deployed by them during the next year. “SA Agulhas” had earlier called at Southern Thule in the South Sandwich Islands to replace the weather station there.

The Icefish season started at the beginning of the year. Three of the four trawlers which successfully applied for licenses for this fishery came in for inspection and licensing between January 17th – 20th. Two vessels later left the fishery after finding only small catches. Catches for the remaining vessel improved towards the end of the month.

“Argos Georgia”, a St Helenian registered longline vessel that regularly operates in the Toothfish fishery in South Georgia, recently broke down and was stuck in ice off the Ross Ice Shelf in the Antarctic. Without main power, and with the ship stranded in the ice floe, the situation could easily have become life-threatening for the 25 crew. After attempts to deliver spares to the stricken vessel by other means failed, the American Air Force agreed to deliver the necessary spares by airdrop. They made an eleven-hour flight from Christchurch in New Zealand to successfully deliver the parts. The longliner was then repaired and able to return to fishing. The Captain was reportedly “extremely relieved” to be safely underway again.

“HMS Clyde”, the new Falkland Islands guard ship, made her first visit to South Georgia (see below). Seventeen cruise ships and four yachts visited during January. The private yacht “Brilliance” arrived after a lengthy trip from the Falklands of 12 days. Much of the journey was under reduced sail as a mast stay had broken. They managed to save the mast by making a temporary repair at sea. Whilst alongside at Grytviken they suffered further damage when strong winds battered them against the jetty, breaking the stanchions down one side. The next day they discovered their self-steering equipment was broken. The couple aboard intended to stay just three days in South Georgia and did well to achieve repairs and leave after just eight days following all their misfortunes.

“HMS Clyde” Makes a First Visit to South Georgia

The new Falkland Islands guard ship “HMS Clyde” made her first ever patrol to South Georgia. She replaced “HMS Dumbarton Castle” and should become a regular visitor over the next few years. She is expected to remain in the Falklands until 2012.

The modern-looking ship came alongside the KEP jetty on January 17th –19th. The ship is 1,847 tonnes and 81.5 meters long and has a crew of 38. Conditions aboard the vessel are a big step up for the crew. Instead of the usual multi-person messes found on British Navy ships, “HMS Clyde” has two-man rooms with en suites. She also has good facilities for transporting military parties. On this occasion she brought a small party from the Falkland Island Resident Infantry Company, who conducted patrols on Thatcher Peninsula and in the Stromness Bay and Gold Harbour areas; and an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Party (see below).

Explosives Clear Up

A large unexploded grenade was found on the lower slopes of Mt Hodges just before the two-man EOD party arrived to deal with several items of ordnance found in the Grytviken area in recent months. Gull Lake was drained to allow work on the dam ready for the installation of new hydroelectric plant and three items of ordnance were exposed on the lake floor. By the time the EOD team visited water levels had started to rise again and one of the three items was in water deeper than normal safe operating levels. The other two were found to be expended and safe.

Whilst searching for a previously used demolitions pit, the men found two other items, an expended rocket mortar and a smaller rocket mortar. The grenade at the base of Mt Hodges was a high explosive rifle grenade in dangerous condition and had to be blown in situ.

In all six demolitions explosions were needed to dispose of the various items including small arms ammunition, pyrotechnic flares, a pyrotechnic line thrower and the rifle grenade. Ordnance in South Georgia is either left over from the conflict in 1982 or from live firing exercises when there was a military base here in the following years.

Used to using all-terrain vehicles to reach ordinance in the Falkland Islands, the men found it arduous crossing the terrain in South Georgia carrying all their heavy kit on their backs.

International Polar Year Stamp Issue

The current International Polar Year (IPY) is commemorated with the release of a new stamp set and First Day Cover. The four-stamp set released on January 25th has two designs on historical themes and the other two represent current IPY science.

The earliest example of international coordination in polar science was the Transit of Venus on December 9th 1874. To observe the phenomenon, Britain, France, Germany and the United States established eight coordinated observatories in Antarctic regions. All took a variety of scientists as well as astronomers. Biological, geological and surveying programmes were conducted.

The first International Polar Year ran from August 1st 1882 to August 31st 1883. The programme involved 12 countries which established 14 scientific stations in polar regions for coordinated scientific observations. Two stations were established in southern regions; France in Tierra del Fuego and Germany in South Georgia at Moltke Base, Royal Bay. These stations observed the transit of Venus of 6 December 1882.

As well as meteorological and geophysical sciences, research and collections were made in almost every other branch of science in the polar regions. Antarctic research on South Georgia included comprehensive surveys of the botany in the area, and studies on the occurrence and distribution of birds and seals.

Based on two contemporary sketches, the 50p stamp illustrates the Zoological building at Moltke Harbour and studies into the metabolism of King Penguins. Two of the study penguins, nicknamed Melchior and Balthasar after the three kings of the Christmas story, were restrained during the experiment with "ledercorsets". Kaspar, however, was simply content to keep them company.

The second IPY was adversely affected by the economic stringency following the financial depression of 1931. It ran from August 1st 1932 to August 31st 1933. No stations were established in Antarctic regions, although several had been planned. Data were contributed by the meteorological observatories on the South Orkney Islands (established 1903) and South Georgia (1905) and about 12 vessels of the Southern Ocean whaling fleet. “Discovery II” also contributed data while circumnavigating the Antarctic (1931-33). The 60p stamp illustrates the Meteorological station at King Edward Point, South Georgia. The third IPY, running from July 1st 1957 to December 31 1958, engaged 66 countries and snowballed into the International Geophysical Year becoming a simply stunning year for the scientific community. Researchers discussed the theory of continental drift and plate tectonics. They made the first measurements of the thickness of the Antarctic ice sheet and so were able to estimate how much of the planet's freshwater is locked up in the ice. Scientists discovered the Van Allen Radiation Belt. The world's first satellites were launched and the spirit of cooperation led to the ratification of the Antarctic Treaty in 1961 and the first truly international territory. The year saw the start of long-term measurements of atmospheric ozone above Antarctica, eventually leading to the discovery of the ozone hole by British Antarctic Survey scientists in 1985. The contribution from South Georgia in the form of on-going observations of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey.

Fifty years on from the International Geophysical Year, technological developments such as earth observation satellites, autonomous vehicles and molecular biology techniques offer enormous opportunities to greatly improve our understanding of polar systems. This IPY also provides an exciting opportunity to engage the upcoming generation of young scientists and to further educate the public. The fourth IPY was launched in March 2007 and has been extended to March 2009 to allow for two field seasons at both poles. Over 200 projects are taking place with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Based on images taken by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists working around South Georgia, the 85p and £1.05 stamps capture the importance of the marine ecosystem. From tiny zooplankton such as Krill up to large predators such as Leopard Seals, the delicate balance of the polar oceans is liable to disturbance from climate change. Many of the IPY projects are focused on understanding how the animals inhabiting the polar regions may be affected by changes in sea temperature and sea ice coverage. ICED (Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics”) is one of the projects studying these interactions around South Georgia and many other areas in the Southern Ocean.

The latest technology has been used to make tiny devices to attach to seabirds and marine mammals, which record information about where they go and what they do. Data collected from ship surveys and moorings provide details on fish, krill and the microscopic plant life. Such information helps scientists to build up a clearer picture of how the ecosystem fits together and what this will mean in the face of a changing climate.

The new stamp issue was designed by Andrew Robinson. The First Day Cover costs £3.90. South Georgia stamps and First Day Covers can be purchased from the Philatelic Bureau, Stanley, Falkland Islands. http://www.falklands.gov.fk/pb

Toothfish Poaching Vessel “Viarsa 1” Dismantled

In 2003 the then South Georgia Fishery Patrol Vessel (FPV) “Dorada” joined in the long chase across the South Atlantic to apprehend a vessel caught poaching in the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone near Heard Island in Antarctic waters. Now, in 2008, the offending vessel has been dismantled on a beach in Mumbai, India.

Five years ago the Australian Patrol Vessel “Southern Supporter” finally apprehended the Uruguayan registered longline vessel “Viarsa 1” after a record-breaking chase of 21 days and 3,900 nautical miles. The South African ocean going tug “John Ross” and the “Dorada” provided support at the end of the chase to slow the fleeing vessel and enable a boarding.

Following legal proceedings the vessel was forfeited to the Australian Government. It was then sold by tender and sent to Mumbai where last month an officer from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority was able to confirm the vessel had been scrapped.

‘Sledge Victor’ Tags Fur Seals and Penguins

A two-man BAS field party arrived this month to continue work on satellite tagging Fur Seals and penguins.

Dr Iain Staniland arrived on the cruise ship “Alexey Maryshev” on January 5th, and met up with Field Assistant Tom Marshall at KEP. With the call sign ‘Sledge Victor’ they have since been continuing a project started last year deploying satellite tags on animals at Maiviken and Hound Bay. Information received from the tags shows the animals’ foraging patterns and their distribution at sea. There has been a lot of work done on the Fur Seal populations both at the northern and southern ends of the Island. Fur Seal populations continue to expand, and Hound Bay is the last large colony at the edge of the expansion from the northern end of the Island. Scientist want to know if the Fur Seals in different areas of the Island use different areas to forage.

By examining Penguin and Fur Seal scats much can be learnt about the animals such as Krill and Icefish that they eat. In the future scientists based at KEP may undertake some of this work. As the most accessible Fur Seal colony from KEP is at Maiviken, 3 Fur Seals and 2 Gentoo Penguins have been tagged there to see if they use the same foraging areas as those from Hound Bay. If they broadly do, then these colonies may be used for future studies.

Gentoo Penguins in particular are good monitoring species for the health of the whole ecosystem. Egg counts and population counts can be used to monitor food availability. In a poor Krill year, when little food is available for the penguins, then none of the chicks will fledge. In a good Krill year two chicks may fledge from each nest.

Gentoo Penguins are near-shore foragers. Fur seals go further off shore to feed. Between the two species a larger area of sea can be monitored.

Early results have shown that the Maiviken Fur Seals tend to go south to feed and do overlap with the foraging area used by seals at Hound Bay. Interestingly the foraging area used by the seals in this central area of the Island is different from that used by those based at the northern tip of the Island at Bird Island, who stick to foraging in a fairly narrow band off shore.

Wandering Albatross Survey Training

As part of the ongoing monitoring of Wandering Albatross populations and their breeding success in the Bay of Isles, Sally Poncet of ‘South Georgia Surveys’ did some field training on Prion Island with five people from KEP.

The five trainees traveled with the FPV “Pharos SG” and were dropped ashore on January 12th by the ship’s RIB. Sally met them there. She has been conducting survey work on Albatross and Prion Islands for the last few weeks, supported by Ken Passfield on the yacht “Porvenir”. ‘South Georgia Surveys’ are contracted by GSGSSI for a three-year project to monitor the islands’ seabirds.

Sally has mapped and marked all the active nests on Prion Island. The trainees were shown how to use a GPS track to find the marked wanderer nests and how to record information about breeding success and Fur Seal activity in the vicinity of the nest sites.

Early results from Albatross and Prion Island surveys show the highest numbers of breeding Wandering Albatross since 1999, an increase mirrored by numbers recorded at Bird Island (see above and below).

Training to Survey the Wandering Albatross on Prion Island (Adobe Flash player required: here).

Bird Island News

By Robin Snape, Zoological Field Assistant and winter Base Commander at the British Antarctic Survey Base at Bird Island.

Throughout January Derren and I continued to mark Wandering Albatross nests until by the end of the month we had a total of 870 nests marked. After year upon year of constant decline this is a pleasing figure, more pairs than we have seen in the last two breeding seasons, and I am informed by Sally Poncet that she and her team have recorded similar positive numbers in the Bay of Isles colonies.

After the festive period the masses of Fur Seals began to recede and finally we were able to access the beaches again. All of the territorial males have now either died from their war wounds or left the island until next season. The only seals remaining are puppies and their mothers who return regularly to suckle them. Oh and the occasional ellie. Donald and Ewan, the seal team, have been deploying various devices on females to monitor their behaviour at sea during the pup-rearing period and, towards the end of the month, began tagging pups, which were marked on birth at the special study beach (SSB). It amazes me that a pup born at SSB can be found a month later at an altitude of a hundred meters and half a kilometre or more from the study beach, often way inland. I have often asked myself, just how do their mothers manage to find them when they wander off so far? But then at 4am in the morning after failing to fall asleep amongst the cacophony of noise surrounding the station I realise just how important vocal communication is for Fur Seals.

Black-browed, Grey-headed and Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses have hatched their chicks and most are now leaving the young unattended. The chicks look after themselves very well by the most bizarre and off-putting defence mechanism. If they are approached by anything other than their parent they will projectile vomit a well-aimed warm dose of bright orange oil derived from fish and squid in the diet. This causes predatory birds to lose their flight ability so dissuades them from attacking, but it also gets into the clothes, skin, hair and the very soul of any field assistants who are working amongst them.

In the middle of the month we waved goodbye to IT man Ben Tullis. As FPV “Pharos SG” arrived to pick him up, a few of us were at the summit of La Roche and said our fond farewells over the airwaves.

In two weeks time “RRS James Clarke Ross” will pluck me from the island after over two years as the ‘bird boy’ on Bird Island. I am hopeful that during the 3 days at sea between here and the Falklands the albatross smell might have worn off. I’m experiencing a strange mixture of excitement at the prospect of getting back to the comforts of civilisation, apprehension that I might struggle to re-integrate properly and melancholy in the fact that there is a good chance that I will never again experience Bird Island life after coming to think of it so as my home. But I shall be making the most of the island before I leave, taking some time to enjoy the landscape, the critters and the people who have made this experience so amazing.

I shall be leaving the BI section of the newsletter in the capable hands of Fabrice the Penguin Field Assistant. A big farewell to all readers, to everyone stationed on the mainland and especially to my human friends here, whom I shall be leaving behind.

Botanists Assess Introduced Species Problems

Two botanists arrived at the beginning of the month for a fortnight’s fieldwork on projects concerned with introduced species.

Rebecca Upson was employed by GSGSSI to compare vegetation in areas where Reindeer are present to areas without Reindeer. Reindeer were introduced to South Georgia in the early 1900s as a source of sport and fresh meat for the whalers. Two separate herds totaling around 2000 animals now inhabit a large area of the central part of the Island.

Reindeer exclosures, small areas fenced to keep the deer out, were built in the mid 1970’s to assess what effect the Reindeer had on the plant communities and how well they would recover if Reindeer were removed. Many of the exclosures have since collapsed and been removed, but the remaining exclosures provide an important source of information on recovery of plants in reindeer grazed areas, if animals are removed.

Assisted by staff from KEP and by Brian Summers, Rebecca studied the exclosures at Sorling Valleyand Husvik and conducted 600m transects in reindeer and non-reindeer areas recording the vegetation at one-meter intervals.

The South Georgia Government expressed its intention to eradicate the Busen Reindeer herd in “South Georgia: Plan for Progress” it’s 2006 published update to the Island’s Environmental Management Plan.

Work to control Wavy Bittercress Cardamine flexuosa recommenced this month. Brian Summers of the ‘South Atlantic Invasive Species Programme’ (SAISP) came in to assess the problem at KEP. SAISP is funded by the EU Development Fund and managed by the RSPB who are employing Brian for a year to work in the Falklands and South Georgia.

Despite several previous attempts to control the Bittercress, using different methods, plants are still growing strongly throughout the infested area. Little has been done in the past two years beyond removal of satellite plants found outside the main infestation areas.

Brian had ten days at KEP. After assessing the problem, he started a new spraying regime, trialing three different weed killers in different areas to identify the best type for future spraying. He is now monitoring the effectiveness of the methods. One of the three treatments showed early promise, having an obvious effect within 48 hours. The other two treatments also showed an effect after about a week. Brian is organising continued spot-spraying of plants for the remainder of this growing season to prevent them from seeding. He suspects the seed bank in the soil around the plants will be viable for about seven years so continued spraying will be necessary for some while.

Brian was last at South Georgia in 1972 when he wintered here as the Radio Operator. On returning he said it was “Really different- but yet isn’t different. The buildings on the Point are very different.” He was just 19 years old when he was here last time, when it was his first time off the Falkland Islands in his adult life. His time in South Georgia was a highlight in his life and he said he has been happy to return and just potter about the Point where he lived and worked 36 years ago.

South Georgia Snippets

The Morrison FI Ltd builders have been working hard on the dam and other projects. A cofferdam, constructed to temporarily hold the lake water back whilst work was completed at the base of the dam, was dismantled on January 29th.

A hole was cut in the back wall of one of the generator bays in the Boat Shed at KEP so the old generator could be extracted and a large transformer installed ready for hydroelectric power.

The four-person Boardwalk Team arrived on “Pharos SG”. The prefabricated boardwalk sections were loaded onto the ship and then off loaded on to the beach at Prion Island using a sea truck. The yacht “Pelagic” was there to meet them. They will be living aboard the yacht during the two-month project to install the boardwalk.

A small party of Norwegian volunteers were dropped in at Husvik on January 12th to continue work on the South Georgia Heritage Trust project to refurbish the old Mangers Villa. The exterior of the Villa was restored in early 2006, now five members of the original team have returned to renovate the interior.

On January 26th a four-person team of scientists from the Sea Mammal Research Unit joined them. They will be deploying instruments on Elephant Seals for the “South Atlantic Variability Experiment”. They will be working in the area until the end of February.

The small boats at KEP have been kept busy this month assisting the two BAS field parties to move camps, getting the visiting botanist Rebecca Upson and her assistants to their field locations and taking people over to the Barff Peninsula for the occasional weekend away. Reindeer are present on this peninsula and many now have small fawns.

Reindeer at Sorling Valley Hut (Adobe Flash player required: here).

A new webcam has been installed on the weather mast on KEP. The webcam on this website is very popular but is usually in a fixed position looking across the bay towards Mt Paget. The new camera will be moved frequently to look at whatever may be of interest and has a wide scope. It will be able to look across the Cove to Grytviken, towards Gull Lake and Grytviken cemetery, down KEP beach towards Hope Point, and is superbly positioned to catch all the Elephant Seal action when they are up on the beaches to breed from September until the pups leave in December. The new webcam will go live when the new version of the GSGSSI website is launched in a couple of months time.

South Georgia Possession Day was celebrated both here and in the Falkland Islands. Chief Executive Harriet Hall hosted the annual cocktail party at Government House in Stanley. Here the day Captain Cook took possession of the Island in 1775 was similarly celebrated with a cocktail party for all the residents and some of the crew of visiting Navy vessel “HMS Clyde”.

Paint spotted faces and bespattered overalls mark out those from KEP who have been assisting Bob to paint the Larsen House windows.

Boatman Martony Vaughan is coming to the end of a two-year contract on the Island. Noted for his superb Saturday night dinners, he really excelled himself on the 26th. With both field parties in and other invited guests he was catering for 25 people and put on a magnificent five-course menu. Taxidermist and artist Steve Massam arrived to join the Museum team for a couple of months. His projects for this visit include a Snow Petrel and continued work on a Wandering Albatross.

View of the Month

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