Mid-island on the east coast is Godthul Harbour with it's glacial head wall forming a natural cliff amphitheater. We did some zodiac cruising here and found a large variety of sea birds, Fur Seals and Elephant Seals along with the cute yet carnivorous South Georgia Pintailed Duck. It is here we found our first South Georgian Pipit, the southernmost songbird which has had an amazing comeback. Back in 2011 when we were last here this bird was facing near extinction and was only found on a few out islands. There are no trees in South Georgia so the Pipit like most birds here nest on the ground. As a result their population on the main islands was decimated by invasive rats introduced to the island back in the whaling days. Six ago an ambitious project was launched to rid the entire island of rats. The largest project of its kind ever attempted and now there are Pipits popping up everywhere as the rats have been exterminated. The Project was an amazing success.

Check out our South Georgia Blog at: https://billklipp.zenfolio.com/blog/2018/2/Antarctica-Wanderings-III---South-Georgia-Island-1

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