I needed this long (and expensive) zoom lens when I went to Tanzania on a safari a few
years ago to see and capture the wildlife up close.
People assumed I was using this same zoom lens when I started posting pictures and videos
like these on social media whilst on my Antarctica Trip.
They were wrong.
All I was using to get these was this iPhone.
The wildlife was so plentiful and all around my feet.
During this trip I discovered there are a few reasons I was seeing so much wildlife
and so close.
However, things are about to change.
And change dramatically.
As I will explain.
By the way, if you're knew here, welcome aboard.
I'm Gary Bembridge and it's my goal to make it fun and easy to discover, plan, and enjoy,
unforgettable cruise vacations.
I was told to keep 15 feet from penguins, 45 feet from seals and 75 feet from the enormous
Elephant Seals.
But they made that hard to do.
Trying to stay any distance from these creatures was challenging, particularly penguins and
young seals, who want to come and find out what's going on.
I learnt that there are no real land-based predators here for these animals, unlike in
the Arctic, where there are polar bears and foxes.
The Antarctic wildlife haven't needed to develop on-land defense mechanisms.
They treated people like me either with curiosity or disinterest because they don't see me as
a threat so quite comfortably allowed me to wander amongst them.
Their main threat is once they get into the ocean.
For example, Leopard Seals eat penguins, up to 20 a day, and then Orcas hunt and eat leopard
seals.
However, man did almost wipe out the wildlife in Antarctic.
So, why did I see so many?
After the early explorers visited in the late 1800s, news of the wildlife spread.
Hunters headed to Antarctica and first slaughtered the Antarctic Fur Seals.
Fur from Antarctic Fur seals became very fashionable and much in demand.
It was estimated that 1.2 million Antarctic fur seals were killed.
In fact, it was so rife, that in the late 1800s, one Captain Fanning boasted that on
one trip alone, he brought back 57,000 pellets.
As the animals were not used to on-land predators they basically just sat there while they were
clubbed to death.
Less than 40 years after Antarctica had first been explored, there were no sightings – I
repeat no sightings - of Antarctic fur seals at all in the area.
So, we moved on to kill almost all the whales for the oil.
This started around 1904 and ran up to the mid-1960s.
We worked systematically through each species until we had pretty much killed them all and
finding them was proving difficult.
Over 61,000 Blue Whales and 48,000 fin whales were killed in the in South Georgia area alone.
Once we’d wiped out most of the whales, we then moved on to the elephant seals.
This was more controlled, but it all petered out in the 1960s as the demand for the oil
fell, and they couldn't make any money.
We created other problems too that wiped out other wildlife.
30,000 birds were being drowned every year by fishing trawlers using extended lines with
baited hooks.
The birds would swoop down to eat the bait, got hooked and drowned.
In South Georgia, the whalers brought a handful of reindeer to hunt and to eat.
However, after whalers left, they grew to 7,000, eating and destroying the ecosystem
and habitat birds relied on for breeding and nesting.
The whaling and service ships unknowingly brought rats and mice that would eat the Tippit
bird eggs and even chicks, wiping them out across most of South Georgia, while seeds
and plants alien were growing and destroying plants key to the wildlife and birds.
So, why was there now so much wildlife in Antarctica for me to see right now?
Although they had seemingly been wiped out, the fact that no one's been hunting wildlife
since the 1960s, has led to a big resurgence over the last 40 odd years.
An unknown group of around 100 Antarctic Fur Seals on Bird Island had not been massacred,
and now there is estimated to be up to four million of them
Whales are building back too, and numbers are growing.
Changes have been made to fishing using coloured ribbons to keep the birds away, along with
more nighttime fishing.
South Georgia culled all of the 7,000 reindeers (although a small handful were taken to the
Falklands).
They spent $13 million to poison and eradicate the rats and mice too.
All of this has meant a big resurgence of wildlife and birds across Antarctica.
However, that could be at its peak and about to all change, which means going sooner rather
than later is a good idea while wildlife is at this stage.
First of all, there is a real risk of overfishing, particularly of Krill, even though there are
attempts to control it, it is a battle.
The animals and the wildlife in Antarctica all rely on the krill.
The whales, the penguins, the seals all eat it, and if krill stocks go down, there is
a big risk to the numbers of wildlife.
Second, as the planet warms, and ice reduces this will throw the ecosystem off balance
and affect numbers.
Already, some of the penguin species are moving further south due to slight changes further
north.
The warming of ocean has another impact as it affects the numbers and stocks of krill,
which are so key to the wildlife across the Antarctic.
The other problem is that microplastic particles are starting to work through the food chain.
They're getting into water, the krill are eating them, the penguins are eating the krill,
the seals are eating the penguins, the whales are eating the seals, and the danger is that
this buildup of plastic within the whole system.
More and more studies have been done showing that that is a big risk to the wildlife.
So now is the time to go when we're seeing wildlife really flourishing.
However, there is another mistake many make when thinking of going to Antarctica.
I made this mistake on my first trip and it took a return trip to rectify it.
Most of the trips to Antarctica only go to a tiny segment of Antarctica.
Pretty much every single trip does the iconic – but limited - Antarctica trip lasting
around 10 days.
The Antarctica region covers everything south of 60 degrees.
Although I, like most people, thought of Antarctica as the continent.
It’s a large continent, the fifth largest of the seven continents.
However, most trips only go to the Antarctica Peninsula, as it's only 1,000 kilometres from
Argentina.
But by doing that, like I did on my first trip, you will only see a limited amount of
wildlife and landscapes.
Very limited indeed.
To see the widest range in Antarctica, I recommend you go on a trip that includes South Georgia
and ideally, the South Orkney Islands like I did this time.
I now saw multiple species of penguins.
When I went to the Peninsula, I only saw Gentoo and some Chinstrap Penguins, and then in fairly
small colonies.
If you include to South Georgia, like I did, I saw King Penguins in places like Salisbury
Plain where there were over 200,000 breeding pairs.
I also got to see the Macaroni Penguin and very large Adélie penguin colonies.
I also got to see more seal species and in huge quantities.
I saw Antarctic Fur Seals, Crabeaters.
Leopard Seals and Weddell Seals.
On my Peninsulas trip I only saw two.
Whales you're going to see many more as you travel around.
You've got more chance of seeing the humpback, the orca, the minke.
You’ll also get to see many varied landscapes, and not only the (admittedly incredible) ice
and snow Peninsula and learn more of the history.
I found that to see more you need to go beyond the Peninsula.
It’s not enough in my view.
Around 74,000 tourists currently visit Antarctica every year.
That's about as many as go to the Disney World in Florida every single day.
However, there are now many more cruise lines entering the space and more and more people
are starting to head down there.
IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) was formed in 1991 with 7
members.
It now has over 100.
I counted 54 operators listed as members.
So not only do you need to think wider about where you go, go to enjoy the resurgence of
the wildlife but also go soon before it gets more crowded and busier.
Going when you see no other ship and just vast spaces with wildlife is magical but may
change soon.
There is a real risk that man is creating new problems for Antarctica.
I feel that I went to the Arctic too late and pleased I did not do the same for Antarctic.
It is an expensive trip, but can you afford to not to go to Antarctica, and go soon?
I suggest you find out how an expedition cruise differs from a regular cruise by watching
this video, where I start with the thing that I had not expected at all.
See you over there.