Antarctica – A Wildlife Photographer’s Dream

I am a wildlife photographer with a passion for photographing cold-climate wildlife, be it Mountain Hares on the Cairngorm Plateau in winter or Elk and Hawk Owls in Arctic Finland. Working as a wildlife photography guide, I have been lucky enough to visit Arctic Scandinavia on a number of occasions but I’ve never been further north. Greenland and Svalbard are on my wish list and so too was Antarctica and this year I was fortunate enough to be able to join the Naturetrek cruise to the Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. 

We flew out of Heathrow on the overnight flight to Buenos Aires (where we spent a very hot afternoon birding in the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve) and then the next day down to Ushuaia, the starting point for most Antarctic cruises. After a long morning in the Tierra del Fuego National Park, we joined our ship, the MV Ortelius, late in the afternoon and soon we were sailing down the Beagle Channel. Our Antarctic expedition had begun!

It wasn’t long before we started seeing a variety of seabirds and by the next morning, when we were out into the infamous Drake’s Passage, Black-browed Albatrosses and Giant Petrels were our constant companions. Whilst many of the group were scanning the seas in search of new birds to add to their life lists, I was looking for good photographic opportunities. Every bird I saw on the trip was new to me and although I am not a great lister, as I am more focused on photography, this trip certainly gave me lots of opportunities.

With so many birds flying around the ship, I spent my time looking for shots where the lighting was a little different or where the waves gave an interesting backdrop.

By the early morning of Day 3, we had arrived at the Falklands and had our first experience of getting into the zodiacs and making a landing. The sun shone while we spent the morning exploring Carcass Island with its Magellanic and Gentoo Penguins and a host of smaller birds. There is a small community living on Carcass Island and before we returned to the ship, we were treated to tea and cakes. Wonderful!

The next day, we spent the morning in the capital, Stanley, and then it was back out to sea on course for South Georgia. This took most of two days sailing but there was always plenty to see from the ship, as well as morning and afternoon lectures by the Naturetrek guides and the Oceanwide Expedition team. We began to spot whales, mainly Sei and Fin Whales at this stage and, of course, plenty of albatrosses, prions, Antarctic Fulmars and Black-bellied Storm Petrels. And then we arrived at South Georgia. Wow!

Like many people, I was up early and on deck as we sailed into Grytviken, eager to see the remains of the whaling station in its very dramatic setting. The Oceanwide team soon had all the zodiacs on the water and we were ferried ashore to wander around the museum, the church and the brown rusting remains and old whale bones which told their own gruesome story. I spotted a young Antarctic Fur Seal curled up asleep on an old whale bone. For me, this is just the sort of photograph I like to take, as it tells a story. The bone represents the years of horrific decimation that the whalers carried out, and the fur seal, now with a population of about one million, shows nature’s resilience.

The visit to Grytviken was very moving because of its past, and there was more to come. We sailed on and into Stromness, another old whaling station with its own history. In 1916, Ernest Shackleton and a small crew landed on the unpopulated southern coast of South Georgia and then trekked for 36 hours across mountains and glaciers to reach Stromness and safety. Thanks to the brave endeavours of these men, all of the rest of his crew, left on Elephant Island, were rescued.

After leaving Stromness, we spent some time at a Macaroni Penguin colony and then it was back out to sea and heading for Antarctica. The trip across the Southern Ocean to the Antarctic Peninsula was filled with so many amazing experiences – our first icebergs, then the amazing iceberg that is A23a (one of the largest bergs in the world at over 1,500 square miles), a cruise along the coast of Elephant Island, looking at where Shackleton left most of his men when he set sail for South Georgia, a rather wet visit to Half Moon Island on the South Shetland Islands… the list goes on.

As we got closer to the Peninsula, new species of birds were found and Humpback Whale sightings became more and more frequent. Soon, we were sailing amongst more and more icebergs and true Antarctic scenery. Magical days. We had sun, we had snow, we had rough water and calm, we visited Charlotte Bay, Danco Island, Foyn Harbour and Pleneau Island, we sailed down through the Lemaire Channel, we landed on the Antarctic continent and some brave souls even went for an Antarctic plunge!! And the wildlife was superb.

Early morning zodiac cruising around misty Foyn Harbour was one of my highlights. Humpbacks were everywhere, blowing, diving, bubble feeding and gliding past our zodiacs almost at touching distance. Lots of memories, lots of photos. Then there were the Snow Petrels, ghostly white against the sea ice, not always easy to see. Certainly not easy to photograph but one afternoon we found three, flying around floating ice and icebergs. I watched one as it drifted in front of a rather attractive iceberg. I focused, locked on and followed it. As it flew past the ridges of the iceberg, I took a burst of shots and got what I consider to be one of my best images of the trip.

Then there was Pleneau Island and the ‘iceberg graveyard’ – a wonderful place for zodiac cruising. I happened to be in a zodiac with Mike, one of the Naturetrek guides. As we glided gently along, looking at the Gentoos up on the rocks, he suddenly became quite animated and, pointing to a very large-looking penguin said, “Look – I think it’s an Emperor!” And, of course, he was right. As Emperors breed much farther south and a long way inland, seeing one on the Peninsula is a rare thing. Our zodiac driver radioed all the other zodiacs, telling them the news and soon everyone had enjoyed distant but very good views of Antarctica’s largest penguin. 

And the last afternoon on the Peninsula, drifting through the ice, Humpbacks blowing and breaching, a Leopard Seal resting on a small floe, stunning scenery. This to me, was the essence of Antarctica.

But the trip wasn’t all about wildlife. The barbeque and subsequent disco in the snow up on the heli deck were an unexpected treat. So too was sailing past Cape Horn, with the ship’s horn sending out a deafening blast.