BIRD ISLAND

Just two days bumpy sailing from Signy, The Shackleton arrived at Bird Island, a miniature jurassic park just to the west of South Georgia. The place was absolutely teeming with life. On arriving, you had to negotiate hundreds of angry fur seals before you even reached the base. I found myself stranded halfway up the met mast at one point as several protective parent seals circled ominously below. One of the scientists onboard was attacked as he stepped onto the peer by a lurking seal, and ended up with a nasty bite.

Slightly more welcoming than the seals were the giant wondering albatrosses, and the thousands of macaroni penguins in the bigmac colony, with their crazy yellow hairdos.