The sun shone as National Geographic Resolution entered St. Andrew’s Bay and ahead of us the sound of waves crashing onto the pebble beach was drowned out by the cacophony of thousands of king penguins calling to one another. Behind them sat the silent, seemingly immovable three glaciers. Once, these glaciers stretched right into the bay but have now receded almost one mile inland, leaving the evidence of a glaciated valley behind them.
Ashore, the more adventurous guests embarked on a hike, heading inland through fields of dozing fur seals before ascending the slope on the west side of the bay to enjoy panoramic scenery and views across the swarms of penguins stretched along the beach. Down below, king penguins regarded guests curiously while adolescents plucked downy feathers from their bodies and glared at inquisitive fur seal pups.
As we headed for Hercules over lunch, whales popped up all around the ship. Groups of humpbacks swam around us while a curious southern right whale and its calf glided by. An elusive blue whale hurried its calf past us, headed for deeper water further north.
At Hercules we dropped our Zodiacs and explored the craggy bay, watching Magellanic penguins porpoise and dive while giant petrels skimmed low above the waves.
