Sunday bird blogging

I don't seem to have any interesting Australian birds to post; fortunately I will never run out of penguins!

These king penguins were in St. Andrew's Bay in South Georgia.

Sunday bird blogging

King penguins and seals at Elsehul Bay in South Georgia on New Year's Day.

I've mentioned that I've been taking many more buses this year because my bad knee keeps me from walking as much as I'm used to. I took a crowded bus down Broadway on my way home from class yesterday, and though I had a book I was too tired to look at it and watched my fellow passengers instead.

And was struck, surprisingly, by the basic decency I saw. People were jostling for standing room along with several large suitcases, a stroller, and one overloaded shopping cart, and maneuvering your way to the rear door to get off wasn't for the faint-hearted, but everyone was—nice. They tried to move out of the way where they could, and a blind man and a woman with a walker boarded and were immediately given seats.

It was a little bit of reassurance in these very dark times.

The Four Elephant Seals of the Apocalypse

The one on the left is being gently reminded to turn around and face the camera.

Sunday bird blogging

Four kings in Fortuna Bay.

Sunday bird blogging

A giant petrel on the beach with some seals at Fortuna Bay.

One more week of crazy prep, and the semester will be finished. There may not be a program next year, unfortunately. We won't know if our funding has been cut until July, but since there's nothing I can do about it, I'm just going to keep my head down, grade my tests, assemble my books of student writing, and try not to think about it.

Sunday bird blogging

A giant petrel swimming in Fortuna Bay in South Georgia.

Yesterday after class I took the bus on Fifth Avenue—walking the full two miles home after standing all day is not always possible with my still highly tempermental knee. The bus was crowded, and as soon as I got on, a young man jumped up and offered me his seat.

Reader, I accepted— gratefully—even as an incredulous voice in my head was shrieking, “Wait! I'm not old!”

Sunday bird blogging

A few penguins hanging out on the beach in Gold Harbour, in South Georgia.

Sunday bird blogging

Evidence that not every penguin in South Georgia is identical.

I'm sure that these two characters are coordinating with their relatives in the Heard and McDonald Islands to cheat their way out of the new U.S. tariffs. My experience is of course limited, but after spending some time around several different species of penguin, my impression is that their primary export is poop. Lots and lots of poop.

There's a metaphor there somewhere.

This seal is my spirit animal

At least today. I've been very busy but I will resume posting regularly soon.

Elephant seal aerobics

I so wish I had video of this: an elephant seal in Fortuna Bay actually moving.

The seal had been on the grassy slope above the beach and the process of working its way back down towards the water was only slightly faster and less laborious than my recent climbs up four flights of stairs to my apartment with a bad knee.

The Whew! I'm exhausted reaction upon finally reaching our goals were pretty identical, though.

Elephant seal yoga

In Fortuna Bay. The onlookers were clearly amazed by this display.

Iceberg on a sunny day

A closeup of the iceberg. I like the way the scalloped shapes on the top mimic the mountains behind it.

More landscapes

More of the beautiful surroundings in Fortuna Bay, including the only waterfall I saw in South Georgia.

The even bigger picture

The mountains around Fortuna Bay, seen from the ship. If you zoom in, you can see tiny penguins and seals by the water.

The bigger picture

In South Georgia, I took pictures of the animals, I took pictures of the mountains, but I seldom managed to combine the two. This picture from Fortuna Bay has mountains, snow, a glacier, seals, penguins, and a couple of petrels hanging out by the clump of tussac grass.

You want a piece of me?

Not a baby, and a seal that wasn’t interested in appearing cute.

I’m not sure if it was our zodiac that was pissing him or her off, but I like this picture because it’s the only time I’ve seen a seal baring its teeth. During the briefings about maintaining a safe distance from the wildlife, we were warned to be especially careful of seals because they bite. And if anyone was bitten by a seal, the cruise would be over for everyone because we’d have to head back to Chile for medical care.

A seal actually jumped into one of the zodiacs when it was ferrying passengers, and everybody had to huddle as far away from it as possible while the driver returned to the ship. The passengers disembarked and the seal wranglers on the expedition crew persuaded the seal to go back into the water.

A newborn

I'm no seal expert, but this baby, the tiniest one I saw, can't have been more than a couple of days old.

Kids and teenagers

When playing turns to squabbling.

Sunday bird blogging

A gentoo taking a stroll past a seal crash pad in Elsehul Bay.

The colors of the seals' fur coordinates perfectly with the rocks behind them.

A rarity

This adorable baby in Fortuna Bay isn't an albino; the white morph in Antarctic fur seals is seen in only 1 or 2 per thousand.