Cooper Bay

Cooper Island is a small island, 2 miles long, which lies at the north side of the entrance to Drygalski Fjord, off the southeast end of South Georgia, in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

A navigable channel, the Cooper Sound is nearly 1.6km wide, and separates Cooper Island from the coast of the main island of South Georgia.

Cooper Island is South Georgia's only Special Protection Area. Sea birds such as the Snow Petrel, black-browed Albatross, kelp gull and South Georgia pipit can be found here along with the Chinstrap Penguins, Macaroni Penguins and elephant seals.

There are also a number of fur seals here as it is one of the few places where they were not hunted by humans.

There are strict landing requirements here, only smaller vessels may anchor and no more than 80 visitors ashore at any time. (Note: it sometimes may not be possible to land at certain times due to heavy concentrations of wildlife).

Visitors must stay to the guided walking and viewing areas so as to not disturb the wildlife.

Small cruise ships can anchor and tender passengers ashore to either the small beach immediately to the east of Albatross Cove, or ‘Albatross Cove’ itself.