South Georgia
Rugged, Windswept, And A Wildlife-Rich Destination
The South Atlantic Ocean, southeast of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia rises steeply from the sea. It forms a crescent-shaped landscape abundant in glaciers and sheer, rugged peaks believed to be once part of the greater Andean Mountain range of South America. South Georgia’s expansive and frayed coastline stands stark against the South Atlantic Ocean. Contrasting with the ocean, we see eleven mountain peaks looming above 7,000 feet and an estimated 160 glaciers peppered among them.
Though it appears forbidding, this wayward island set more than 1000 miles east of the tip of South America has won the allure of explorers past and present. Permanently be memorialized, South Georgia is as the land where famed British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton perished after his first-ever crossing of the island in 1916 following the collapse of his unsuccessful Imperial Trans-Arctic Expedition.
Under British rule since the 1700s—when the famed Captain James Cook first landed on South Georgia and launched its rise as a whaling outpost—the island is host to one of the highest concentrations of wildlife on Earth. It’s estimated 30 million breeding birds call the island home—from 7 million penguins to 250,000 albatrosses—and half of the world’s entire population of southern elephant seals.
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Destination Highlights
Shackleton's Legacy
Visit Shackleton’s grave and learn about his survival story.
Rich Wildlife
See large penguin colonies, seals, and seabirds.
Historic Shipwrecks
Explore shipwrecks like the Petrel along the coastline.
Did you know?
Climate
Polar and unpredictable, this windswept island has year-round cold temperatures, fro...
Discovery
Though it’s believed that in 1676 the London merchant Anthony de la Roché was the...
Geography
South Georgia reigns as the largest in the South Georgia group of islands, eclipsing sev...
Wildlife
It’s estimated 30 million birds call the island home—from 7 million penguins to 250,000 albatrosses—and half of the world’s entire population of Southern Elephant seals.
Wildlife in South Georgia
Gentoo is the largest of all Pygoscelis penguins. It can be easily recognized by the wide white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head and the red bill. Chicks have grey backs with white fronts. They are the fastest underwater swimming penguins, reaching speeds of 36 km/h. They feed mainly on krill, but also on fish and squid. They are the most numerous penguins nesting in the Antarctic region.
This beautiful penguin has a characteristic orange tassels meeting between the eyes that distinguish this species from its slightly smaller relative, the rockhopper penguin. Macaronis nest mainly on Subantarctic islands close to the Antarctic Convergence, and may reach as far south as the Antarctic Peninsula. They lay two eggs at the end of the Austral autumn, the first being larger than the second. Chicks are uniform brownish-grey above and whitish below.
With bright white bellies, tangerine cheeks and bills, and a golden patch parked high on their necks, king penguins are easily spotted not only for their coat and size—they’re only second in stature to the emperor penguin—but also for their dignified, upright posture. With one of the healthiest, populations of penguins in Antarctica, they’re found dispersed throughout most of the region, from the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. These convivial creatures are often seen in immense colonies of up to 200,000, with the entire population estimated at almost 3 million breeding pairs. To keep their great size, king penguins are expert divers, often submerging to 1,000 feet in search of squid, fish, and crustaceans to feed both themselves and their young. Fun fact—mature king penguins look so different from their fluffy, brown-coated chicks they were mistaken as separate species by the continent’s first researchers.
The southern minke whale is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales. It is the third smallest baleen whale. While it was first scientifically described in the mid-19th century, it wasn’t recognized as a distinct species until the 1990s. Given that it was ignored by the whaling industry due to its small size and low oil yield, the southern minke was able to avoid the fate of other baleen whales and maintained a large population into the 21st century, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. It has survived to become the most abundant baleen whale in the world.
The orca is the largest member of the dolphin family, and it is probably the most easily recognized of all cetaceans. The most obvious feature is the enormous dorsal fin, which is the tallest and most pointed of any cetaceans. In adult males, it may stand two metres in height, while in females and immature males it is more curved and smaller. They have a striking black and white pattern from throat to abdomen, some of their flanks, and an oval blaze behind the eye white, with the rest mainly black. The huge conical head is pointed with a very slightly rounded beak. Males can reach 7 to 9 metres in length and weigh 3.8 to 5.5 tonnes. Females are noticeably smaller in overall body size, reaching 5 to 7.7 metres length.
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The cape petrel is an unmistakable medium-sized petrel, with a round head and highly distinctive black and white upperparts and upper wings, smaller than the Antarctic petrel. Its speckled appearance has earned its other common name, pintado, which means ‘painted’ in Spanish. The cape petrel has a circumpolar distribution at sea. It has a wide breeding range from the Antarctic continent to the more southerly Subantarctic islands, where it breeds in November and December in loose colonies on level rocky grounds or gravel, and moderately high cliffs.
- Size: 35-42 cm
- Wing: 24-28 cm
- Wingspan: 80-91 cm
- Weight: 440-500 gr.
The cape petrel is an unmistakable medium-sized petrel, with a round head and highly distinctive black and white upperparts and upper wings, smaller than the Antarctic petrel. Its speckled appearance has earned its other common name, pintado, which means ‘painted’ in Spanish. The cape petrel has a circumpolar distribution at sea. It has a wide breeding range from the Antarctic continent to the more southerly Subantarctic islands, where it breeds in November and December in loose colonies on level rocky grounds or gravel, and moderately high cliffs.
- Size: 35-42 cm
- Wing: 24-28 cm
- Wingspan: 80-91 cm
- Weight: 440-500 gr.
The snowy sheathbill is a medium-sized, plump hen-like, all-white bird. They are not seabirds because, for example, their feet are not webbed, but are in their own family akin to waders. They cannot be mistaken for anything else as they strut and squabble around penguin colonies. They have elaborate courtship displays and are monogamous and permanently pair-bonded species. They feed on intertidal life and on invertebrates.
- Size: 34-40 cm
- Wingspan: 70 cm
- Weight: 400-700 gr.
- Size: 77 cm
- Wing: 32-33 cm
- Weight: 2.5-3 kg
The snowy sheathbill is a medium-sized, plump hen-like, all-white bird. They are not seabirds because, for example, their feet are not webbed, but are in their own family akin to waders. They cannot be mistaken for anything else as they strut and squabble around penguin colonies. They have elaborate courtship displays and are monogamous and permanently pair-bonded species. They feed on intertidal life and on invertebrates.
- Size: 34-40 cm
- Wingspan: 70 cm
- Weight: 400-700 gr.
- Size: 77 cm
- Wing: 32-33 cm
- Weight: 2.5-3 kg
The black-browed albatross is one of the smaller black and white ‘mollymawks’ with a pale head. This albatross can be identified at a distance by its underwing pattern featuring a wide dark leading edge. At close range, the adult birds have a yellow eye that makes identification easy.
- Size: 80-96 cm
- Wing: 50-56 cm
- Wingspan: 210-250 cm
- Weight: 2.9 to 4.6 kg
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Upcoming Departures to South Georgia
Stay In Touch With Antarctica
