Orca, Orca, Orca!
Position 2pm 27 February: 56°24’40”S 40°4’16”W (MAP)
What an amazing few days on the way to South Georgia, and then in and out of various bays that are a part of this treasure-filled island. We met penguins (King, Gentoo & Chinstrap), fur seals, elephant seals, petrels, albatross and a long list of other animals that we’ve encountered & interacted with while zodiac cruising and we’ve been managing the rapidly changing weather.
We set sail for South Georgia as planned on Friday 23 February, and experienced decent swells along the way – I learned how effective the stabilisers are on the World Explorer. We had two days of clear skies and rolling seas, lots of info sessions, meeting people and spending time on the back of deck 6 photographing the magnificent black-browed albatross as they soared above our wake, essentially coming along for a “free ride”.
I never tire of watching albatross. They fly from the rear of the ship, then alongside, their wings stretched out wide, turning so that the tip of the lower wing almost scrapes the surface of the waves while their heads remain facing straight ahead. Occasionally a Wandering Albatross would join them, as would other smaller birds.
As we neared Shag Rocks, a rocky outcrop that juts high out of the ocean, fog appeared out to our left and the sea was still flatish. This is a key nesting site for shags/cormorants and soon some were flying around us as we did a brief circumnavigation before continuing on our way to South Georgia.
Every so often we hear announcements that “whale blows have been spotted at “11 o’clock”, or “2 o’clock”. I’d peer out in the general direction, but it was generally too late and they were gone. [We use this clock system where “12 o’clock” is the ship’s bow so that people know where to look].
After lunch a few of us were enjoying the sunshine on the back of deck 6, learning a little about where we were from, cameras at the ready for whatever might appear. Woody announced that a pod of orca was at 3 o’clock. We raced to the starboard side and there they were, coming to the surface then swooping down into the ocean and racing towards the bow. I grabbed a couple of photos, including one that I really look forward to sharing with you!
I decided that being more forward on the ship would be best, and soon found a great spot on Deck 5, the most forward-facing area. The Captain had slowed the ship to around 3 knots – wonderful – I noticed that he was out on the fly bridge taking photos.
The water is so clear here that we could see them well below the surface, their white and markings very visible, with clear evidence of scratches and scrapes over their backs, and a long black line that runs down their spine. The colour is typical of orca in the Antarctic region.
Annie estimated there were 12 – 15 animals in this pod, including at least 3 that were quite small.
It became clear that they were enjoying being pushed forward by the bow wave even though we were moving slowly: why else would they keep coming back under the bow and then shooting forward, before returning for more? At one point a large adult turned and “spy-hopped” – holding its head out of the water to look at us, and perhaps to also hear us shouting and cheering.
They stayed with us for about 45 minutes before moving off away from the ship. An extraordinary encounter and one that we were very privileged to experience.
If you are interested in following the weather in the area, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has the weather map for the Antarctic at this LINK. Any black tightly bunched circles indicate ferocious winds!
And if you would like to know where we are, you can track our location (World Explorer) via Cruise Mapper at this LINK.