I was extremely fortunate. A small group of us had been dropped onto the island for our day trip R&R (we got one day off during the whole of our four months there) and I was determined to make the best of it. Although it was sunny it was also bitterly cold, so we all wore our thermals plus foul weather gear. Saunders Island is a fabulous nature reserve and we had a blast wandering among the rocky outcrops where there were nesting albatrosses, shearers and penguins. We could walk right up to the birds because they didn't recognise us as potential predators or foes; even nesting birds. I'll never forget the smell of the place - fish!
At one point I strayed from the main group and found myself on the shingle shore. I dared to take my boots off and ran barefoot through the South Atlantic for a while, kicking the surf and getting much wetter than I had anticipated. I looked up to the cliff above me and could see the rest of my group there, waving at me and pointing out to sea, so I waved back at them and tried to see what had grabbed their attention in the water. Sure enough, I could see penguins arcing through the waves.
It was one of those instinctive reactions; I was already half-soaked, so I stripped to my undies and dived in. For a few moments I was surrounded by bouncing penguins, apparently gambolling in the waves, swimming almost to within touching distance. Then they were gone, scurrying off to their nests and leaving me to enjoy the surf. Again I looked up at the cliff and everyone was waving at me. I thought they seemed more urgent than before so I looked out to sea once more and there were three porpoises zooming towards me. They never came as close as the penguins but still swam very close to me. By now the cold of the South Atlantic was beginning to bite so I only stayed with them for a short while before I had to return to the shore.
As I was pulling my clothes on, one of my friends ran up to me in a state of some consternation. From the cliff top he had seen a bull elephant seal off the shore stalking the penguins out at sea and he had waved to me to warn me of the danger. Elephant seals are partial to a tasty penguin and have been known to attack humans too. Being on the shore, I didn't have his advantage of being able to see the elephant seal out to sea. It was beyond my horizon. Instead, I had unwittingly dived into an ocean full of penguins trying to escape their predator. Goodness only knows where the porpoises came from, but I believe somehow they recognised my danger and swarmed around me to protect me against the elephant seal until I had made landfall again.
It was a very memorable experience.
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