Sub-Antarctic wildlife of South Georgia

This is a video about South Georgia.

From Wildlife Extra:

Invasive species threatening wildlife of South Georgia

28/12/2008 23:17:59

Survey of invasive species of South Georgia

December 2008. A team of scientists are spending a no-frills Christmas and New Year aboard a small boat off the rocky coast of South Georgia in the Antarctic, one of the most remote and inhospitable of the UK’s Overseas Territories.

The six researchers from Buglife and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew will be braving some of the roughest seas in the South Atlantic to hunt for invasive invertebrates and plants on the island.

Mid summer -5oC

It is mid-summer on South Georgia yet temperatures can drop to -5oC with 100kph winds straight off the glaciers and snow falls regularly. The other wildlife of the island will add to the challenges of the six-week expedition. Fur seals are particularly aggressive as the bulls defend their breeding territories, while gulls and skuas have been known to try to steal scientific equipment. …

About the survey

The researchers will be conducting a survey of introduced plant and insect life on the island in order to better understand its effect on South Georgia’s native species, which include 25 plants and over 100 invertebrates. The team will be sampling sites around the island, recording and mapping the introduced species – including the dandelion species Taraxacum officinale and a predatory beetle – so that their populations can be monitored in the future. They are also aiming to collect seed from all 25 native plant species for banking and safe keeping in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank.

Birds A Threat To Antarctic Airstrips: here.

Scientists solve enigma of Antarctic ‘cooling’: here.

Skeletal morphology and the phylogeny of skuas (Aves: Charadriiformes, Stercorariidae): here.

January 2011. Sue Edwards sent us the following via email: “Here are a couple of images I took of a ‘blond’ fur seal at Grytviken in South Georgia, with a ‘normal’ fur seal in the background. I am working down here in the South Georgia Museum for the Antarctic summer and we have been surrounded by fur seals, elephant seals and king penguins since I arrived in November 2010.”