SOUTH GEORGIA 54°24’49.7”S 36°34’57.7”W
MALIN HANNING
i tasted the salty ocean , and I felt the cold everywhere. The voices were drowning in the wind and the waves. All I could think of was the camera in my hand. I tumbled around with the next wave until I got a grip on the ocean floor, enough to stand up and drag myself to the beach. Apart from the sound of the zodiac motor, the noise from the beach got louder. Thousands of penguins put their head up in the sky and called for their chicks. Finally, I’m back at one of our planet’s most unique places – the Gold Harbour in South Georgia. Dripping with saltwater, I looked up and saw the massive beach in front of me, stretching from one end of the bay to the other. It was covered with king penguins, and between them, elephant seals laid lazily on their backs resting. On the cliffs behind the beach, albatross had built nests out of vegetation and soil. And all this life and wonder was framed by the rugged mountains and an endless sky. My love for nature and animals has developed throughout my life. It has resulted in my love for the outside, seeing new places, and enjoying what nature offers. The more remote, the more I enjoy the place. Being able to feel one with nature is what I appreciate the most. Falling into the southern ocean with all my equipment, that’s not waterproof, was not something I meant to do let alone appreciate. As a photographer, I am happy to be able to take some special moments home with me, to show others how unique nature is. Photography is a tool to share those moments, but sometimes life forces you to just be. And in the end, my soaked camera and clothes were history. All that mattered was the moment! That is what we live for. I was surrounded by so much life and so many sounds, and my heart was pounding when I sat down on the beach. Everything that mattered was right in front of me. I watched with excitement, how out of this enormous colony, one little guy broke out and walked straight towards me. I stopped moving, stopped thinking about my unusable camera lying next to me in the sand, and did not feel my cold clothes anymore. He was curious, and for a few moments, I felt a connection that was impossible to put in words. It was like he wanted to check up on me and maybe say, “welcome“. I know I shouldn’t anthropomorphize wild animals, but sometimes it’s hard not to. I arrived at a place that once visited is not easily forgotten. Trumpeting adults and whis- tling chicks filled the bay’s two-mile-wide beach. With my new friends in front of me, I couldn’t resist laughing and thinking that probably even the greatest explorer in the world, Sir Ernest Shackleton, must have had a moment like that when he first stepped foot on this island.
“Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.” – Sir Ernest Shackleton
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MOTHER VOLUME ONE
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