My first Sunday on King George Island found us giving the dive gear a chance to thaw and dry out, donning out warm hats, gloves, and sturdy boots we trekked out to one of the northern beaches that is home to an Elephant Seal population. Walking over the misty snow covered hillside was spectacular enough, but when we were still 200m from the beach a roar reverberated through the air. A male Elephant Seal (or bull) called out, perhaps alerted to our prescience or just asserting his status the other seals on the beach.

Excitedly arriving at the beach we only had time to see the huge backside of the monstrous alpha male slip into the water, sticking his head above the surface a domineering call sounds out once again. It was a striking sight. Male Elephant Seals are truly huge animals. Being the largest seals in the world, they can reach a length of 5m, and weigh in at around 2700kg. They are king of the beach.

Wandering along the northern coast we came across many female Elephant and Fur Seals, even sighting a lonely Waddell Seal. Only the Leopard Seal that can be seen around King George Island eluded us. The remains of a whale carcass lay scattered across one of the beaches, red stagnant water in pits where seals would wallow produced a foul smell in the air. I truly felt that we were experiencing a small slice of raw nature.

I was so taken by the experience that I returned solo a few days later, this time finding the elusive male elephant seal sleeping surrounded by a harem of females. Cautious at first as I didn’t know how they might react to my present I slowly approached the group. To my surprise they were quite unperturbed by my presence, occasionally opening their eyes to keep an eye on me as I watched on. In fact they seemed more concerned with more pressing issues, such as the prime sleeping spots next to the big male!