Fur Seals on Beach at Fortuna Bay, South Georgia
This short video is a set of clips of the Antarctic fur seals taken at Fortuna Bay in South Georgia. I did not narrate on the actual video as I thought it would be interesting for the viewer to hear the natural sounds of the seals. Some things mentioned in the article are easily seen in the video. The ability for the seals to move quickly is demonstrated, a baby seal comes very close to me and begins to scratch in a dog-like manner and with its toenails quite easily seen, and of course, you'll see that they are very playful.
King Penguin Egg Exchange at St. Andrews Bay
This video shows short clips of a mated pair of King Penguins doing a shift change for sitting duty on an incubating egg. Each King Penguin takes a turn at sitting on the egg for periods of 14 to 18 days. While one parent sits on the egg, the other is out at sea the entire time feeding. The parent sitting on the egg is unable to eat the entire time its partner is gone. When the well fed penguin returns to relieve it's mate, the actual exchange of the egg between the parents is a long drawn out affair that can take hours. A lot of "teasing" is done by the parent with the egg. This entails briefly showing the egg, then covering it up, showing it again, turning away from its mate, and such. The partner without the egg at times appears to cajole the egg sitter, as if reassuring its mate that the egg will be safe, and that it is OK to pass it over. Finally the egg is rolled from one partner to the other.An egg exchange is a time of vulnerability to the egg. While the egg is passed from one parent to the other, a predator could potentially swoop in and grab it.
St. Andrews Bay's Huge King Penguin Colony
This is a panaroma of the gigantic King Penguin Colony at St. Andrews Bay in South Georgia Island. This is one of the largest King Penguin Colonies in the world. Because of the long breeding cycle and extended maturing (fledging) period of the juvenile King Penguins, the colony is there all year around. This is unlike other penguins specie colonies that only gather for part of each year during their breeding season.The sections of brown colored birds in the colony are gatherings of baby and juvenile King Penguins. The feathers for the young King Penguins are a fluffy brown and will be shed at around 13 or 14 months when it gains its adult feathers. For many of the participants on our journey, St. Andrews Bay was the high point of our time spent in St. Andrews Bay.
SOUTH GEORGIA VIDEOS
More Fur Seals on Beach at Fortuna Bay, South Georgia
This is another short video of the Antarctic fur seals taken at Fortuna Bay in South Georgia. As on the first video above, I did not narrate on the actual video as I thought it would be interesting for the viewer to hear the natural sounds of the seals. Here the viewer can see a bit of the gorgeous scenic background of the area we were in, and the seals playing in the water.
