Petrel fights

We landed at Gold Harbour today and it was brimming with wildlife, a cacophony of activity ! The beach was lined with thousands of Elephant Seals, with barely enough space for us to land. The bulls were fighting and the females were barking. The few fur seals were whimpering. There were the ubiquitous King Penguins and plus a colony of Gentoos. But for me, most of the theatre today was provided by Giant Petrels. Until today I had only seen a more placid side to them, when they were at rest. However, now I saw their true character, raucous, squabbling and ruthless. Immediately on landing I saw a few gorging on a bull elephant seal carcass, feasting on its eyes and brain. Later there were more tugging away at flesh from another dead seal in a stream. This provided an opportunity for shots of fighting Petrels in the water, with plenty of spume. I took many photos. Here is one of the better ones.

South Georgia so far