Seven Worlds One Planet – Antarctica
Watching the first episode of the new David Attenborough narrated ‘Seven Worlds One Planet’ BBC series was every bit as exciting as anticipated.
Antarctica’s vast icy landscapes were captured in full glory by the craftsmanship of the production’s superb camera team. The architectural Antarctic landscapes of towering glaciers and turquoise blue ice caves are thrilling in their own right but when punctuated by thousands of penguins or beach-loving elephant seals the continent really comes alive. The almost biblical proportions of a colony of half a million king penguins in St Andrew’s Bay on South Georgia is staggering, as the problem of adult penguins locating their young when returning with food was highlighted!
Fights by ‘blubber-bashed’ bull elephant seals, weighing upwards of four tonnes, was captured majestically on film thanks to the bravery and dexterity of the cameramen and their stabilising camera equipment, whilst admirably dodging other seals and penguins in the process.
Heart wrenching scenes showed how adult Weddell seals sometimes need to abandon their new-born pups to retreat below the ice in order to avoid storms as temperatures drop in winter to minus 40ᵒC and how grey albatross on South Georgia are unable to recognise their own young by sight or smell unless they are physically sat on the nest when the adults return after searching for food.
This, however, is only a snapshot of the continent’s incredible wildlife. The Southern Ocean sustains a myriad of underwater species, with strong currents drawing nutrients from great depths below the ice and waves. Overhead camerawork captured the mathematical precision and beauty of the ‘snail-like’ spiral created by humpback whales forming bubble nets in which to feast on krill. The bubbles create a barrier around the krill which they won’t cross, enabling the whales to optimise their catch.
Humpback whales are joined by orca and the extremely inquisitive southern right whales to feast in these nutrient-rich waters. Fortunately, numbers of southern right whale, once hunted almost to extinction, are now growing since the whaling ban came into effect in the 1980s.
But this is just a taste of the delights you can expect on a trip to Antarctica. Wildlife watching here, with the backdrop of such unique and untainted landscapes, offers the opportunity to engage with wildlife and the forces of nature like nowhere else on Earth.
Join us on one of our small-group tours to Antarctica, The Weddell Sea and South Georgia. You would be journeying on one of the specially-built ice-strengthened cruise vessels of today, venturing out in small groups on RIBs to get closer perspectives of everything this awe-inspiring region has to offer.
Why not join wildlife writer and conservationist Mark Carwardine and top landscape photographer Joe Cornish on our unique Frozen South Adventure 20-day trip in November 2020 which takes you to the Falklands and South Georgia for some superb wildlife sightings and photographic opportunities in November’s extended daylight hours?
See our full range of trips to Antarctica and details of the cruise vessels. To book or find out more, contact our wildlife experts .
