As we headed south, the Drake Passage yielded some fantastic bird sightings! We encountered huge numbers of blue petrels, black-browed albatrosses, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels and even encountered a grey-headed albatross – a fantastic start for wildlife. We also saw our first whale blow of the voyage, although unfortunately too far off to turn off course. Hopefully more to follow over the coming days.
In the afternoon I delivered my talk on whaling and the whales of the Southern Ocean. Whaling had a huge impact on the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, decimating populations of blue, fin and humpback whales, to near extinction in these productive and once teaming waters. This degradation was exacted over a small period of just 55 years, which goes to show the destructive power that we can have on our marine environment. Luckily, many whale populations are now on the up, following the end of whaling and the 1986 moratorium – something that we hope to experience the signs of over the coming days.
Tomorrow we plan to head onward to Half Moon Island, a small island in the South Shetlands where we hope to encounter our first rookery of chinstrap penguins.
