A pod of 40-50 fin whales approach the boat

Tuesday 17th January
62S, 38E
Today was a very special day. We had 4 separate sightings of fin whales before breakfast. Two of the sightings occurred one after the other on opposite sides of the bridge (these animals may have been travelling together but were slightly dispersed). The blows from each animal were incredible – each one gushed metres up into the sky with incredible force, one after another in sequence. Even with 15 knot winds they lingered for a few seconds before dissolving into the air surrounding them.

We had Kerguelan petrols, Light mantled sooty’s and wandering albatrosses with the ship for parts of the day. We also collected our first krill! Some swarms were also seen in the water.

Captain Scott took us on a short detour this afternoon via a particularly special ice berg. He guided the ship over to the berg so we could get a really good look at it. It was a well rounded, smooth and weathered crescent shaped berg which contained a beautiful turquoise blue swimming pool. It looked very inviting! To top the afternoon off, not 10 minutes after Ady the birdo said he’d like to see a breaching whale, we spotted distant splashes off the port side which turned out to be a humpback whale and calf. Twice we watched the mother leap clear of the water!

Wednesday 18th January

Today was even more special than yesterday for sightings! Conditions were good again, with Antarctic clouds and calm grey water. We had whales with us for most of the morning. At one point we watched a wall of large blows approach us from the front of the ship, in the distance. By the time they had reached us there was a large collection of excited people up on the bridge. It was a pod of 40 – 50 fin whales! I have never seen anything like it in my life. The sky was full of huge fin whale blows. As each of the four sub groups past by we got a look at their bodies and their fins, some of the closest animals were just a couple of hundred metres away and even the furthest ones were only a couple of nautical miles from the ship. They just kept coming. It was absolutely phenomenal. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget.

Thursday 19th January

Today we reached the end of our westerly transect (62S, 30E) and FINALLY we took a left turn to take us down towards the ice, the continent and, hopefully, some great wildlife viewing!

Friday 20th

Our first sperm whale popped up right next to the ship today. He was awesome! Jason got some acoustic recordings too, and it sounds like there are a few in the area. At midnight tonight, as the sun began to set, we approached a beautiful misshaped iceberg that was covered in Antarctic petrels and had a south polar skua perched on the top of it. We got within 100 metres of the lovely sculpture and circled it, staring up in amazement from the bow of the ship.

Saturday 21st

Without exception, every day is a real treat and the wonder of the southern ocean just keeps increasing! Today the sea was like a mirror. It is still and incredible with clouds reflecting and the sun shimmering. We have had groups of minke whales passing us by and logging sperm whale males, blowing and fluking up their tails before they dove to the great depths (we have around 5000m of ocean below us). We could see their bodies clearly as they rose out of the water. We are currently stationary conducting a CTD and the sea ice edge is visible on the horizon, tantalising us! We will reach it this afternoon…

Sunday 22nd

68S, 30E
Today we motored through pieces of cake ice that half covered the ocean all around us. After almost 3 weeks at sea, we finally made it to the ice edge. Its like being on another planet. Some of the broken up chunks of first year ice were several metres thick and much of it is discoloured with algae. We are surrounded and the ship is crunching through it with ease.

We saw our first little Adelie penguins, Emperors and more Arctic terns than I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s such a pleasure to watch them roosting on the floes and then take flight as we approach – and to watch the birdo’s try and count them! The krill trawls that we are undertaking more regularly now are successfully bringing in the required catch, we managed to obtain several hundred krill on the last trawl. The bridge was alive with expeditioners, old and new, that wanted to absorb the incredible view around us. The sea ice has receded quickly this year and so we may not encounter very much and so we are soaking it up whilst we can.

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