Gentoo and bergy bits

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Oil on board, 61cm x 76cm

The south coast of South Georgia is even more rugged and glaciated than the north and not a place to be in a stong so’westerly. Here at Holmestrand Bay near the western end of the island is a lovely little anchor and we spent a few hours ashore in the morning before sailing on.

The many glaciers around mean that there are usually lumps of ice floating about in the sea and ‘bergy bits’ are frequently washed on to the beaches. I loved the contrast between the bright ice and the dark sand. These randomly shaped and scattered pieces of icy flotsam seemed oddly out of place on the beach, despite our location, and made me think they could almost be part of some conceptual artist’s installation!

There are few penguin rookeries on this side of the island so it was something of a surprise to see this lone gentoo waddling out of the surf and up the beach.