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Ahoy! South Georgia

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 Welcome back! It's been a while.  I bring you this blog from the South Atlantic, soon to be the Southern Ocean, as I am being violently rolled around on the South Georgia Fisheries Patrol Vessel, MV Pharos. MV Pharos Photo credit: Louis Day I was asked before I accepted the temporary position of a Marine Biologist at King Edward Point Research Station, South Georgia, if I get seasick- to which I confidently replied 'no'. However, this is a different story. The Pharos is a flat bottomed boat, one that rolls under any circumstance, flat or calm. The crew tell me she was made in Scotland with the specific purpose of working inshore, getting 'beached', loaded with cargo and then would float out to sea when the tide was high again. Something she was absolutely not made for was seagoing expeditions across the rolling South Atlantic and Southern Ocean northernmost boundary! I do not like spending more time than necessary vertical so this is a new challenge to me. However,
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A Weddell seal pup was born

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At Rothera research station, we had the delight of witnessing the birth of Weddell seal pups on the sea ice. I was lucky enough to experience this twice across two Antarctic winters in 2021 and 2022. It is absolutely fantastic to watch the Weddell seals grow from a tiny slick, slithery mass to a beautiful, furry pup.  There was great excitement on station when the pup was born on 18th September 2022. The placenta of the mother stands in stark contrast against the ice! Most of the station skipped dinner to run outside and observe mother and pup on the sea ice, just outside the dining room. It doesn't get much better than that. Photo from 18th September 2022 -the pup is so small and dark (covered in slimy birth products), it's barely visible. Just a day later on 19th September 2022, kelp gulls are looking for any remains of placenta. 'Keep away from the baby seal' said my internal monologue from behind the camera lens. 20th September 2022 - two day old pup feeding.
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