a trip to.... antarctica

Here are some images taken from a recent trip to the Antarctica peninsula to photo-identify humpback whales of the southern hemisphere, adding data to the already established Antarctic Humpback Whale Catalog archived by Allied Whale at College of the Atlantic. The trip was made possible by the kind sponsorship of Abercrombie and Kent Global Foundation, aboard their flagship, the MS Explorer. Our research team consisted of Sean Todd and Judy Allen. The cruise occurred during the austral summer, in mid-February, leaving from the Falkland Islands, and included a 14 day visit to the Antarctic peninsula. To get to the peninsula required a two day crossing of the Drake Passage, a 700 mile wide channel with no shelter from the dominant westerly winds. Waves of 30ft in height and sustained winds of 55kts were experienced! We got to see some pretty amazing sunsets too! Once at the peninsula we visited several islands, as well as landing sites on the mainland. At all sites (including the Falklands) we saw a myriad of: Birds species such as:   •Chinstrap penguins with chicks •Adelie penguins with chicks •Gentoo penguins with chicks •Black-browed Albatross with chicks •Blue-eyed shags •Snowy sheathbills •Cora cora •Skuas •Kelp gulls   Pinnipeds, including: •Weddel seals •Crabeater seals •Southern Elephant seals •Leopard seals •Antarctic Fur seals   and of course whales, including: •Orcas •Minke whales and the species we had come down for: •Humpback whales!   Click on any of the above names for images and species accounts

visit associated sites: MS Explorer College of the Atlantic