As we departed South Georgia on 9 March for the long journey (two and a half days at sea) back to the Falkland Islands, we settled in for a post-lunch lecture on whales by one of the naturalists in the expedition crew. Not long after he had begun to describe the various types of whales, and the history of whaling and whale conservation, a guest near the windows shouted “whale ho!” The lecture was quickly paused and soon we were all out on deck to view and photograph the largest mammals on earth: Blue Whales. And this was just the start! Read on and check out the gallery of photos and videos.
South Georgia Island sits just south of the Antarctic Convergence, a sharp boundary between the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the cold waters of the Southern Ocean; “Antarctic waters predominantly sink beneath the warmer subantarctic waters, while associated zones of mixing and upwelling create a zone very high in marine productivity, especially for Antarctic krill” [Wikipedia]. The result is an incredibly rich ecosystem, attracting seals, penguins, and whales – hence the use of South Georgia Island as a base for sealing and whaling in the early- and mid-twentieth century. Those whalers nearly decimated the southern populations of whales, but since whaling ended in the 1970s they have been recovering. Indeed, just last year the Endurance came across a huge pod of fin whales foraging near Antarctica – likely the biggest congregation of whales seen in more than a century. [Read more and watch this brief video.]
We weren’t that lucky, but it was nonetheless a treat for me to see three blue whales – one of which was a juvenile, feeding alongside our ship. Here’s a brief video, which will give you a better sense of the encounter.
Not long after, we encountered a group of Humpback Whales. They stuck around for quite some time, coming right up the ship as if they were as curious about us as we were about them. The water was so clear I could see them below the surface, just a few meters below me on deck. They often raised their flukes as they dove, giving the naturalists on board a chance to identify specific individuals using a global database of each known whale’s flukes (scars and barnacles are unique to each individual). The gallery includes several fun videos of the humpback whales; they are much better than any one image.
The day before, we encountered a Southern Right Whale; I was only able to capture one good image.
David Kotz 