mark prior photography

I was told that you go to South Georgia for the animals and to Antarctica for the ice. It is pretty hard to argue that the animals on South Georgia aren't a compelling reason to go there but the reality is that both places are amazing for their animals and for their scenery.

The King Penguins on South Georgia are amazing, both individually and in their massive colonies. It is hard to compehend how the parents find their chicks in all that noise and chaos. The Elephant Seal "weaners" are curious about anything and everything. Stand still long enough and you will be the centre of their attention, sit down and they will be all over you!

Birds were a constant companion to the ship as it crossed from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia. This light-mantled albatross was just effortlessly gliding around the stern of the ship.
Another of the ship's companion birds, a cape petrel. Black head with black and white checkered back. The ends of its tail is also black with the underside of its body being white.
Three King penguins go for a stroll together along a pebbled beach. The seem indifferent to the wind carried snow.
Antarctica's only native land bird. While largely a scavenger it still manages to stay a pristine white.
A section of the beach crowded with King penguins.
An Antarctic fur seal on the beach guiding its territory.
Adult and juvenile King Penguins stand among tuffs of grass.
A very large male Elephant seal surrounded by his family. They are napping but he has raised up his head and tail to ward off the intruders.
A female elephant seal uses a flipper to toss some sand (and rocks) other themselves while a pup looks on.
Strans of ink black kelp cling to the shoreline of Prion Island.
The South Georgia pipit is the only song bird of South Georgia and is very hard to spot as it fossicks along the tide line.
A South Georgia pintail foraging along the shore for shrimp and clams. It was much easier to see than the tiny pipit.
They might not be able to fly but they certainly can climb steep, rugged cliffs without much effort. Here a group takes a break to groom themselves as they climb across the cliff.
Zodiacs full of visitors seem insignificant against this landscape. A small pebbly beach below a meltwater waterfall that cascades down the mountainside.
Some fluffy brown juvenile King penguins make a new friend. A camera (not mine) sitting on a tripod is something worthy of investigation. The penguins line up to have a look, perhaps seeing their reflection in the large front lens element.
Maybe this is a penguins idea of a nice foot spa? Standing in a small stream when you could stand on some grass seemed a little weird but maybe it helps with the moult?
Ernest Shackleton, Thomas Crean and Frank Worsley completed their epic journey from Elephant Island here. It would have been in better condition then. Even though it is off limits to visitors due to the building decay, asbestos, rusted tanks, it is still amazing that it has survived the harsh elements without maintenance.
The final obstacle in Shackleton's trek across South Georgia was descending this waterfall.
A view from the waterfall towards Stromness whaling station. Just get down, walk across the flood plain to the coast and then along it to the whaling station.
The hike across these mountains early in the morning was scrubbed due to the weather on the other side of the mountain so we "only" got to walk up to the top of the waterfall and back.
The green moss indicates healthy growth, but reddish moss signals that the plant is stressed or drying out.
A Southern elephant seal looking into the camera while it is lying upside down on a piece of green grass.
King Edward Point is a permanent British Antarctic Survey research station on South Georgia island and is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Formerly a whaling station but now home to a museum, the church and cemetery, final resting place of Sir Ernest Shackleton.
The weather can be very changeable, and cloud just sweeps in from nowhere.
The church was pre-built in Norway and erected in Grytviken by whalers. It was originally a Lutheran church but is now Anglican. Inside is a small library.
Simple but practical church with wooden benches.
Tom Crean is buried in Ireland but this stone commemorating his life is in the church and so near "The Boss". It bears his name, years of birth and death (1877-1938) and three voyages, Discovery, Terra Nova and Endurance.
Toasting "The Boss", Sir Ernest Shackleton, at his grave with Shackleton whisky.
King penguins return at dawn to the colony at St. Andrews Bay.
A colony of Southern elephant seals basking in the early morning light on a rocky beach at St. Andrews Bay.
A Northern Giant Petrel stalking any sickly looking animals on the beach.
Close up of a King penguin.
A group of King penguins gingerly make their way down a grassy slope while another group checks on their progress.
Three King penguins stand by a small pond while they undergo their annual mount. The surrounding mountains are reflected in the pond.
The King Penguin colony at St. Andrews Bay is massive. The number of fluffy brown penguins waiting for a returning parent is impossible to count and it is mind blowing that those parents can find their child in this chaos of noise.
A close up of a male elephant seal relaxing on the beach at Gold Harbour.
A Gentoo penguin is highlighted as it walks past a resting elephant seal.
Like in Antarctica penguins can pick some supremely beautiful locations for their nests and be totally oblivious to their surroundings. This is another one with a large colony of King penguins nesting beneath the receding the Bertrab Glacier and snowy peaks of Salvesen Mountains.
Golden light at Gold Harbour illuminates a King penguin.
Sit down on the beach is an easy way to meet new friends. Young elephant seals are very curious and if you give them an inch they will take a mile.
There are a lot of King penguins on South Georgia but hidden in these massive colonies are small groups of Gentoo penguins. This one had just crossed the creak when I captured it on the way to the beach.
A young elephant seal takes a bath in a melt water stream littered with King penguin feathers.
A bit of a sumo match between two young elephant seals.
One last "stop" in South Georgia, a cruise up Drygalski Fjord. The visit was primarily to allow an Extreme Ice Survey team to recover memory cards from cameras monitoring a glacier in the fjord.
A preview of the ice to come in Antarctica. Some icy blue seracs sitting on the dark rock face in the fjord.
One of the tidewater glaciers flowing into the fjord.
Soon after leaving South Georgia we were out on deck again admiring a massive iceberg, B17-A. It was 32km long and originally broke off the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica in March 2001.