Whales to port

Today we had a pretty wild windy day at Dorian bay and made our way to Fournier Harbour which is a large sheltered bay surrounded by glaciers tumbling into the sea.  As soon as we arrived the wind started to dive down and we were surrounded by feeding Humpback Whales. The engines on the ship were lowered and we coasted into the very thick of a churning mass of feeding whales gorging themselves on the dense krill just thirty meters below the surface. As we lined the rails of the ship we saw spiraling bubbles emerge from the depths and float towards the surface in concentric circles until a large whale surged through the centre of the rings with water spurting from its baleen plates and krill scattering in all directions. The lead whale would soon be followed by two younger whales learning the game of bubble netting and taking advantage of the skill of the lead whale. Also notice that as the whales charge to the surface they have their eye close, no doubt to keep our the krill and to prevent damage from the wheeling seabirds overhead taking advantage of the craft of the whale. It was a pretty spectacular fair well from the Antarctic as we once again turn our bows towards the Drake Passage and Ushuaia.

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