What a treat – Carcass Island.
We arrived and we saw the settlement, tucked into the the fold of a small valley. Surrounded by the yellow of gorse, a cluster of buildings formed the settlement of Carcass Island, our home for the evening, and place of exploration for the next day.
Early the next morning we were all up and into the zodiacs to get ashore for a transport across the island in land rovers to visit the north shores where there is an elephant seal colony. Going overland, across “camp” in the land rovers was an experience in and of itself – The cloud cover hung low, but seemed fitting with the outcrops of grey-white quartize jutting out at the peaks, as well as the the boulders that had found their way across the island.
At the northern tip, not only did we find the orchestra of elephant seals, but also bird life! It was if the ground was alive – birds everywhere – magellanic penguins, kelp geese, cobb’s wrens, magellanic oystercatchers, upland geese, Falkland steamer Ducks – and those are just the ones I captured on my camera! Where to turn and what to look at? Oh yes, and there were Sei whale bones, including some baleen.
The elephant seals often stole the show however, making themsleves present through their groans and grunts. While the males emit low guttural sounds, the pups almost bark – the entire frequency spectrum was present – Soprano to Bass! The movements, expressions, and gestures of a mammal after days of watching birds, was a change to the senses. Its easy to anthropomorphize the goings on of a colony – the alpha male beach master, the pups, the females with their pups… movings in and out of the water. A whole society at work.
We spent the morning entertained by nature, and then made our way back across the island to the settlement to enjoy some incredibly delicious home made cakes. A HUGE thank you to the team at Carcass Island for such a wonderful day.
