On our second day at South Georgia we first called at Grytviken.
The overnight passage around South Georgia was was smooth and in complete contrast to the previous few days.
Before reaching Grytviken we first stopped at Maivikin to drop off some passengers.
Our expedition voyage on Hurtigruten’s MS Fram would take us from Ushuaia to Antarctica, to South Georgia, around the Falklands and then onto Montevideo.
On Sunday March 5th we sailed into Cumberland Bay to land at Grytviken.
At 6 am South Georgia was covered in mist and the decks were still covered in snow.
I was up early to watch as Fram stopped at Maiviken to drop off the walkers. The walker’s plan was to hike over the hills to Grytviken and be waiting for Fram when she arrived there.
Cumberland Bay and Grytviken
After they had left the ship, Fram then sailed around to Cumberland Bay and we had our first sight of Grytviken.
On our port side was the cemetery with Shackleton’s grave.
On the way to our mooring we passed the South Georgia Fisheries Protection vessel, Pharos, at King Edward Point.
South Georgia Heritage Trust
After an early breakfast we attended a presentation from the South Georgia Heritage Trust. They are dedicated to preserving and protecting both the heritage and wild life on the island. Their ongoing project is to rid the island of brown rats.
As an aside the sealers and whalers introduced many alien species of mammals and plants, either by accident or by design. The cats, dogs and pigs that were introduced couldn’t survive in the harsh climate but the reindeer and brown rats not only survived they thrived.
All of the reindeer have been removed from the island so the grasses are now growing back. But the rats remain. All the birds on the island have their nests either on the ground or in burrows. Until the rats came there were no mammal predators. The rats eat eggs, chicks or even adult birds. The South Georgia pipit which only lives here was almost wiped out by the rats.
Eradicate all the brown rats
The project to kill all the rats is a massive undertaking and we were told about the progress to date. The South Georgia pipit is already beginning to re-appear on other parts of the island. The geology of the island helps as glaciers form barriers between zones and prevent rats from crossing over into previously cleared zones. Helicopters are used to drop a specially prepared poison. The rats collect the pellets and take them underground to eat. This also means that the rat’s carcasses are not being eaten by carrion birds who may become poisoned also.
The next stage of the clearance is to use specially trained dogs to check to see if they detect any rats in a the cleared areas. This effort will continue for many seasons as if any rats remain alive they will quickly start to breed and spread again. One of the ways that we could help was to donate money to help pay for the clearance.
It is estimated that the bird population on South Georgia will increase from 50 million to at least 150 million when the brown rats have been eradicated.
We were asked to contribute to the SGHT‘s funds to help eradicate the brown rats. We joined other passengers in handing in a donation form at reception.
Welcome to South Georgia
While the lecture was taking place the ship was being processed by Immigration and Customs. Once the formalities were over we could then go ashore.
The earlier visibility had faded by the time we had reached Cumberland Bay and the nature cruise on the Polar Circle Cruisers were cancelled.