Chapter 4: Whales

Nothing could have prepared us for our experience with the whales. Our encounters with them felt spiritual, and they epitomized the reasoning for visiting Antarctica. Sightings were made from the decks of The Ocean Atlantic, and those were memorable, but our interactions with whales from the zodiacs were magical. Only a foot or two above the surface of the water, we would drift along the Southern Ocean, motor off, surrounded by icebergs the size of houses and stadiums. The only sounds were the lapping of the water and the sharp intakes of cold air. And then one would surface, an enormous humpback, right next to us. Its blow would powerfully pierce the stillness, and then we'd see the rest of its body come up to the surface of the water. It was incredible.

Humpback’s face right in front of us, barnacles and all

It felt as though the humpbacks were communicating with us, almost reassuring us the raw nature enveloping us was okay. That's how overwhelming the experience was. They would say hello at the surface, sometimes go under our zodiac, and then appear somewhere else a little later. Our guides explained they came down to feed, and would lazily glide through the nutrient-dense water. They were calm, and their presence was reassuring, not alarming.

The humpbacks were by far the most numerous, but we also saw minke whales and southern right whales--even blue whales! We observed a few minke whales from the zodiac; slightly smaller than the humpbacks, they were a little more wary to approach as closely. The most surprising sighting of the minkes, however, came as we were departing Antarctica for Elephant Island. It was only the marine biologist, one other passenger, and us on the top deck of our ship. We all wanted to say goodbye to the wonderland that had been so good to us. But right after we turned northward, we spotted a pair of minke whales on the port side. They kept pace with the ship briefly, then crossed underneath us to the other side. We whooped and cheered, our guide included, for we were overjoyed to catch one last interaction with the majestic creatures. I had tears in my eyes when we finally went inside as the ship picked up speed.

You could sense a powerful benevolence from the whales. Despite all the horrors we performed on them, the ones we witnessed in the Southern Ocean only wanted to bond. They dwarfed our zodiacs and could have easily flipped us if they wanted, but there was no sense of danger whatsoever. Whales are inherently peaceful. They embody the exotic, beautiful diversity of species living on this Earth. I will always remember my experience with them. It was definitely one of the highlights or our trip, because it reinforced the simple message: Earth is precious--we must protect it. The other highlight of course, was stepping foot on Antartica itself.