Antarctic Fox - Day 9: Antarctic Humpback Whales

The log of Rachel and Kevin Fox's trip to the Antarctic Peninsula in the Summer of 2008-9

Day 9: Antarctic Humpback Whales

January 3 - Errera Channel, Gerlache Strait, the Antarctic Peninsula

By this point in our trip we had seen three types of penguins, three types of seals, and more birds than we can count. But so far no whales. We had only been casually looking for the whales but now, on day 9 of our trip, we were starting to feel the loss and so it was time to get serious about looking. There are eight types of whales to be spotted in Antarctica: Blue, Fin, Humpback, Minke, Orca, Southern Right, Sei and Sperm, however we were only likely to see three of those types because of season, location and habits. So our eyes were peeled for Humpback, Minke and Orca whales. While we did eventually see Minke whales at a distance, they are fast and were gone before we could say "hey look", so no photos of those. Oddly, the most likely whale for us to see, the Orca, we never did see. However in the true fashion of this trip once our guides warned us that we would likely not see any Humpback whales, that is exactly the kind of whale that turned up.

I (Rachel) had only so far spent about 20 minutes on the bridge looking for whales, but was planning to go up and take a shift after lunch. That did not come to be as just as we were finishing lunch we were called to the bridge as whales were spotted in the distance. Two humpback whales traveling along to coast in search of a feeding ground.

Some Humpback Whale facts:

Population:	20,000 individuals
Location:	Oceans world-wide
Size:	40-50 feet long
Weight:	Up to 48 tons
Diet:	Krill and fish

A Humpback's flippers can be as long as one third their body length, up to 16 feet on some animals.
Humpback whales are highly vocal animals, whistling and rumbling in complex songs that can last up to 20 minutes and be heard over 20 miles away.
Humpbacks feed by circling around schools of fish or krill and making a cylindrical net of bubbles. They then lunge into the concentrated cloud of prey with mouths wide open.
When diving Humpbacks raise their flukes high above the water and will occasionally bring them down explosively onto the surface, presumably as some form of warning.
Researchers still are not sure exactly how Humpbacks produce their sounds. They don't have vocal cords, so they probably sing by circulating air through the tubes and chambers of their respiratory system--but no air escapes during the concerts and their mouths don't move.
Newborn Humpbacks consume about 100 pounds of their mother's milk each day for a period of five to seven months until they are weaned.
Humpback whales migrate to tropical areas to breed but return to Antarctica during its summer to feed on krill and small fish. The name Humpback does not refer to any body feature but rather to the way that the whale dives arching its back as it goes down creating a 'humpback'.

Afternoon Whale Watching - On the bow of our ship, the Hanse Explorer watching two humpback whales traveling along the Antarctic coast. They are here to feed for the Antarctic summer before returning north to breed. You can see the tail of one of the whales just sticking out of the water. - Photo by Tim Soper - Photo by Antarctic Fox
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Cool Cloud - One of my favorite clouds seen in Antarctica. We saw a lot of interesting shapes in the clouds as well as the ice while there. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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A Whale A Whale - Arched tail of a humpback whale during its feeding season in Antarctica. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Naughts and Crosses - One of the two whales we tracked this afternoon, this one had a very distinctive X on the tail. - Photo by Kevin Fox
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Whale Tail Collage - - Photo by Kevin Fox
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X Marks The Spot - If you look at the lower half of this whales tail there is an X marking. Beautiful humpback whale in Antarctica. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Antarctic Cetacean - The humpback in the foreground just blew (you can see the spray falling to the left). In the background is the Antarctic Peninsula - Photo by Kevin Fox
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Just a Fluke - The two whales we tracked today had very different tails. This one was easy to spot at quite a distance! - Photo by Kevin Fox
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Whale Waterfall - One of the Humpbacks gets ready to dive hard for a food run. - Photo by Kevin Fox
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Fluff Topped - Beautiful Antarctic mountain topped with a well placed cloud. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Whale Mist - A humpback whale blowing water up through its blow hole. Amazing day watching these humpbacks in Antarctica. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Whale of a Tail - Diving tail of a humpback whale in Antarctica. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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And finally a full breach!!!

Lovely Day - The crisp air, the scenery, the WHALE! What more could we ask for? Humpback whale breaching in a jump in Antarctica. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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"One of the Humpback's more spectacular behaviors is the breach. Breaching is a true leap where a whale generates enough upward force with its powerful flukes to lift approximately two-thirds of its body out of the water, coming back down with a thunderous splash. A breach may also involve a twisting motion, when the whale twists its body sideways as it reaches the height of the breach. Other behaviors include headlunging (butting into other whales), body rolls, lobtailing (fluke and flipper slapping), and spyhopping (lifting straight out of the water)." - 'Humpback Whales' - Antarctic Connection

Prepare to Breach! - Coming up fast out of the water, this Humpback is looking for a good smack from the water. - Photo by Kevin Fox
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Splashdown! - This breaching Humpback scratches his itch as he crashes down hard into the water. - Photo by Kevin Fox
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Blow Hole - You can even see the mist trailing off from the last blast this humpback whale spouted. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Running Water - Humpback Whale tail dipping back in the he ocean of the Antarctic. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Whipped Frosting - The clouds resting gently on these mountains in Antarctica was just breathtaking. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Wave Hello! - A Humpback waves his fin as he propels it toward the water for a good smack. - Photo by Kevin Fox
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Barnacle - Over their lives, Whales pick up quite a family of barnacles. You can see several on the edge of this Humpback's fin as he draws it from the water. - Photo by Kevin Fox
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A Whale Ride - In the afternoon we planned to do some whale watching. We were warned that we might sit for hours and only see the caps of waves, but as it turned out it didn't take long at all. On the bow at the beginning, Left - Right - Kevin, Brian, Paulyn, Patricia, Rachel. Inside the bridge talking are Captain Martin, Our guides Rob & Tim, Sara (video taping), Alan, Daveen and other family. Almost everyone is outside by the end of the video. - Video by Sara Fox & Brian Bogle (Thank you guys SO MUCH for sending us your video!) - Video by Antarctic Fox
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The Beauty Behind Us - The view of these Antarctic hills as our boat leaves this area and our new humpback whale friends! ;) - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Photographers Paradise! - Kevin and Brian shooting the beautiful scenery and looking for traces of humpback whale being left behind in the Antarctic waters. - Photo by Rachel Lea Fox
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Read the next chapter: Day 9: Dallmann Butt Sliding

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