Kuli South Georgia Expedition
Oct 12
#4: Southern Inhospitality
Published at 19:58
The climate change gods do not want our expedition to get under way. Just as our Gang of Eight was ready to scale the glaciers of South Georgia, they decided to send freezing winds that may top 60 knots per hour by Monday. Only an idiot would go ice-coring in such conditions. Since we are no fools ‹ and we have the Ph.Ds to prove it ‹ we are boat-bound until the deities throw some friendlier forecasts our way.
Determined not to let a little hurricane-force wind spoil our party, we have decided to take care of the tourism portion of our journey over the next few days. We set a course this morning for Possession Bay, so named because it was the spot where Captain Cook claimed ‘possession’ of the island for King George III in 1775. Since penguins and elephant seals were the island’s main inhabitants at the time, the good Captain apparently had a rather easy time of it.
We entered Possession Bay and were greeted by a chorus of grunts from the local seals ‹ presumably descendants of the animals that Captain Cook made British subjects out of 237 years ago. Mountains ring the entire bay, smothered by a vast glacier whose streaks of aquamarine stand in surreal ‹ dare I say ‘psychedelic’ ‹ contrast to the brown-gray rock. Today, unfortunately, Possession Bay’s splendor was toned down a few notches by a blanket of low-lying cloud that blocked all direct sunlight and cut off the mountain peaks from view.
Paul Mayewski scouted out the shoreline to determine the best way up. When the weather takes a turn for the better, we will return here, climb the glacier and find out what the ice can tell us about climate change. For now, we plan to spend the weekend at King Edward Point, the ‘capital’ of South Georgia that is home to a museum, the grave of explorer Ernest Shackleton, and other tourist goodies. Next update from there!
Determined not to let a little hurricane-force wind spoil our party, we have decided to take care of the tourism portion of our journey over the next few days. We set a course this morning for Possession Bay, so named because it was the spot where Captain Cook claimed ‘possession’ of the island for King George III in 1775. Since penguins and elephant seals were the island’s main inhabitants at the time, the good Captain apparently had a rather easy time of it.
We entered Possession Bay and were greeted by a chorus of grunts from the local seals ‹ presumably descendants of the animals that Captain Cook made British subjects out of 237 years ago. Mountains ring the entire bay, smothered by a vast glacier whose streaks of aquamarine stand in surreal ‹ dare I say ‘psychedelic’ ‹ contrast to the brown-gray rock. Today, unfortunately, Possession Bay’s splendor was toned down a few notches by a blanket of low-lying cloud that blocked all direct sunlight and cut off the mountain peaks from view.
Paul Mayewski scouted out the shoreline to determine the best way up. When the weather takes a turn for the better, we will return here, climb the glacier and find out what the ice can tell us about climate change. For now, we plan to spend the weekend at King Edward Point, the ‘capital’ of South Georgia that is home to a museum, the grave of explorer Ernest Shackleton, and other tourist goodies. Next update from there!
- Name: Possession Bay
- Elevation: 0 m
- Latitude: 54° 7’ 0” South
- Longitude: 37° 7’ 60” West
Possession Bay Glacier
Alex Sr. in Possession Bay
Possession Bay Entrance
Sunshine at Last
South Georgia Coast
Blue Island
Possession Bay discussion
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