Wild Water Whales Project

We are thrilled to hear of your (Ship to Shore Traveler's) support and most importantly for you to be a part of this extraordinary conservation story in South Georgia. We will use your donation to help fund the Whale Research Program this season. This is a really important project that is especially focused on studying and understanding the presence of the largest whales species on earth particularly, Blue, Southern Right Whale, Fins and Humpback. With much gratitude and appreciation, from all of us at Friends of South Georgia Island and South Georgia Heritage Trust, we sincerely thank you.


About the Wild Water Whales Project

Over 1,147 nautical miles of the coastal and shelf waters was surveyed. Working from the New Zealand vessel RV Braveheart, the expedition team sighted whales 540 times; humpback whales were the most commonly seen species (409 sightings of ~790 animals), while the Critically Endangered Antarctic blue whale was the second most commonly sighted species (36 sightings of ~55 animals). Interestingly, the primary focus species for the voyage (the southern right whale) was rarely seen, with 11 sightings reported of ~13 animals. The team also used acoustics to listen for whales, making over 100 hours of recordings.


The objective of the voyage was to learn about whale distribution, prey preferences, health and habitat use patterns in South Georgia. This was achieved by collecting sightings data, identifications of individuals via photo-ID and genetics, characterising the prey present when whales were feeding, deploying drones to collect overhead images and assess body condition, and tagging whales with tracking devices to find out where they go and what feeding areas are important for them.


The team sighted over 1000 whales during the expedition, and photo-identified 11 southern right whales, 48 humpback whales, 25 blue whales, 6 fin whales and 41 killer whales. These images are now being matched with pictures collected from the 2018 yacht-based expedition, and with catalogues from other areas of the South Atlantic and Southern Ocean, in order to better understand the population origins of whales feeding in South Georgia waters. Skin samples collected from southern right, humpback and blue whales will be analysed at the University of Auckland and British Antarctic Survey to identify individuals using forensic techniques and assess population origins, as well as using skin chemistry to identify the candidate prey that each species of whale is feeding on (“we are what we eat”, and the carbon and nitrogen composition of our skin chemistry is similar to that of our food).


Two southern right whales were tagged this season on the south side of the island (Annenkov and Braveheart) and we are now live-tracking their movements to find out which feeding areas are important for them. These are the first two southern right whales ever tagged on their feeding grounds, so we hope to gain new insights into areas of importance for this species in the South Atlantic, by tracking their movement patterns this coming autumn and winter. So far, Braveheart is sticking close to the island and working the waters around the South Georgia shelf, while Annenkov has travelled south of the island to sample the food in the Scotia Sea. We are also watching intently so see where the 23 southern right whales tagged in September 2019 by the #trackingwhales research project are going; so far nearly all have on remained feeding on the Patagonian Shelf this summer, but two have recently travelled to the South Orkney Islands! We are watching closely to see if our southbound whale Annenkov will go and join them. This may turn out to be a new area of importance for southern right whales.


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