Photo Credit: Lauren Elliott
It is currently the beginning of summer right now on the island. Winter in South Georgia is roughly from June to August. This is when the sub-Antarctic island experiences long periods of darkness with limited daylight hours.
Extreme conditions and stormy weather can make travel and navigation difficult in the Southern Ocean during winter too. The population of the island drops to only 8-10 people and the museum is closed. Tourist visits come to an end in March until the spring.
Average temperatures hover around freezing (-5°C to 5°C /23°F to 41°F). But the powerful westerly winds can make it feel significantly colder. There are frequent snow and sleet storms – and even freezing rain.
Many seabirds migrate to warmer waters, but some, like the iconic king penguins, remain. The chicks huddle together in massive colonies to conserve warmth while the adults will spend time diving deeper in the ocean to find food, sometimes hundreds of miles away.