Recently in Antarctica Category

Iceberg minaret, originally uploaded by Dave Walsh Photography.

Iceberg minaret, Southern Ocean

Detail of this iceberg (seen from the rear)

Photographed from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza. I was on board last year and the year before, as web editor and press officer, when tracking down the Japanese whaling fleet.

More on what's happening with Japan's whaling programme here

Antarctic Iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.

Continuing with my year-old icebergs...

As I said last week, I've resolved to edit all the lovely iceberg photos that I didn't already edit - this one is January 3rd, 2008. I'll keep throwing a few news ones up now and then....

This time last year I was in the Southern Ocean, on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza - we were looking for Japan's whaling fleet. We found them, and stopped them whaling for 14.5 days! Catch up with the campaign to end whaling »

Oh, I miss the Antarctic, and want to go back...
Lots more icebergs here »

Cape Petrel, Daption capense, originally uploaded by blather.

Here's a photo that I somehow didn't notice before... taken in the Antarctic, January 2007.

Cape Petrel, Daption capense, also known as the cape pigeon, pintado petrel, is a common seabird of the Southern Ocean from the family Procellariidae. It is the only member of the genus Daption, and is allied to the fulmarine petrels. It is also sometimes known as the Cape Fulmar, Cape Pigeon, or Pintado Petrel. The Cape Petrel has two subspecies, D. c. capense and D. c. australe.

Get high resolution: Wave breaking over Iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.

Wave breaking over Iceberg in the Southern Ocean. That's a couple of petrels you can see flying by the lower part of the berg, gives a sense of scale.

Get high quality version: Lonely Adelie Penguin - Pygoscelis adeliae , originally uploaded by blather.

Adelie Penguin - Pygoscelis adeliae - in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica. In 1830, French explorer Dumont d'Urville named them for his wife, Adélie.

National Geographic Traveller's Intelligent Travel blog have just used my Blue Ice photo in an article about
Antarctica's White Noise

Scientists at the Perennial Acoustic Observatory in the Antarctic Ocean understand this concept, and have bottled the sounds of the Antarctic for the world to appreciate with "an acoustic live stream of the Antarctic underwater soundscape."

Cape Petrel, Daption capense, originally uploaded by blather.
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One of the most difficult birds to photograph, due to their colouring and their aerobatics!


Cape Petrel, Daption capense, also known as the cape pigeon, pintado petrel, is a common seabird of the Southern Ocean from the family Procellariidae. It is the only member of the genus Daption, and is allied to the fulmarine petrels. It is also sometimes known as the Cape Fulmar, Cape Pigeon, or Pintado Petrel. The Cape Petrel has two subspecies, D. c. capense and D. c. australe.

Antarctic petrel, or Thalassoica antarctica, close up! , originally uploaded by blather.
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Antarctic petrel, or Thalassoica antarctica is a boldly marked dark brown and white petrel, found in Antarctica, most commonly in the Ross and Weddell seas. They eat Antarctic krill, fish, and small squid. They feed while swimming but can dive well from the surface and the air.(wikipedia)

Iceberg, Antarctica, with roosting petrels, originally uploaded by blather.
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Iceberg, Antarctica, with roosting petrels

Get high resolution version of Adelie Penguins »

What Adelie Penguins do on New Years Day, originally uploaded by blather.

"Morning"

"Morning"

"Happy New Year to you"

"Happy New Year to yoursel. How's the missus?"

"Oh, she's grand. Here, was I telling you about yer man... good jasus, what the bleedin' feck is that thing?"



Adélie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae

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Southern Giant Petrel, originally uploaded by blather.

Macronectes giganteus - Southern Giant Petrel. Giant petrels are aggressive predators and scavengers, which has led to the other common name they were known as, the Stinker.They look a bit like albatross, except for the tube nostrils on the top of their bill - albatross bills have the two tube nostrils opening seperately, further up. They're still bloody big tho - this geezer has a 2m wingspan!

Another lucky shot - it's almost pin sharp, when I look at it 100%. Settings:
Exposure:1/3200 sec
Aperture:f/5
Focal Length:110 mm
ISO Speed:200
Exposure Bias:-2/3 EV

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Emperor Penguin in a snow shower, originally uploaded by blather.

My first emperor! This guy was standing all by himself on a piece of pack ice, in the snow. Looking a bit moody, but then, wouldn't you?

These guys are huge - over a metre tall and up to 40kgs, they can live from 20 to 40 years.

Iceberg, Antarctic, originally uploaded by blather.

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Iceberg, Antarctica

Seen from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza in Antarctica, Defending Whales voyage 2007-2008.

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Icebergs, Southern Ocean, originally uploaded by blather.

Iceberg, Antarctica

Seen from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza in Antarctica, Defending Whales voyage 2007-2008.

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Iceberg, Antarctica, originally uploaded by blather.

Iceberg, Antarctica

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Ice and Icebergs, Southern Ocean, Antarctica, originally uploaded by blather.

Ice: it's more colourful than you'd think...

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Light Mantled Sooty Albatross, originally uploaded by blather.

Ok, this guy may look rather dull, but I think they're rather special, and I'm very happy with how sharp this picture turned out. It's almost pin-sharp!





Phoebetria palpebrata - from a whole different family of albatross that includes the dark-mantled sooty.They're the smallest albatrosses, with wingspans of 200cm, and can dive down to 12m! They're listed as near-threatened by the World Conservation Union.

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Snow Petrel, Antarctica, originally uploaded by blather.

The snow petrel is one of only three birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica and has been seen at the South Pole. It has the most southernly breeding distribution of any bird.

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Crabeater Seal, Antarctica, originally uploaded by blather.

Saw this seal first thing this morning - well, first thing after a late night! I think it had a late night too, and wasn't so happy about the wake-up call.
Not sure if you can make out its teeth, but they're designed for chewing krill, and are very oddly shaped! Notice the scar on his back - it's very regular which makes me wonder if it's longline-related.

The little known Crabeater Seal, Lobodon carcinophagus, is possibly one of the most amazing mammals in the world. At a population of 8 to 50 million (LAWS 1973), it is perhaps the second most numerous large species of mammals on Earth, after humans. More than half the seals in the world is a Crabeater Seal. More on wikipedia »


Seen from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza in Antarctica, Defending Whales voyage 2007-2008.

I wonder what flavour it is?, originally uploaded by blather.

Yes, the ice really is this blue!
Blue ice »



Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Blue Iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.

Yes, the ice really is this blue!
Blue ice »



Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Breaching Hourglass Dolphins, Lagenorynchus cruciger, originally uploaded by blather.
>Breaching Hourglass Dolphins on flickr.com
Get high resolution picture of hourglass dolphins »

Two Hourglass dolphins breaching, Southern Ocean
27/02/2006

Wikipedia: Hourglass dolphin »

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

© Dave Walsh

Angry Crabeater Seal, originally uploaded by blather.

Angry Crabeater Seal, Ross Sea, Antarctica

- More about crabeaters


Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Orca near the Esperanza, originally uploaded by blather.

Orca, killer whale, seen from the bow of the Esperanza, Ross Sea, Antarctica

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Crabeater Seal, originally uploaded by blather.

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Crabeater seal. Crabeaters are perhaps the "second most numerous large species of mammals on Earth, after humans" with populations of around 50 million. The crabeater eats krill - hence the pinky orange colour on the snow. I thought first it was blood - now i'm not so sure.

More on wikipedia »

The tip of the iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Wide iceberg ahead, originally uploaded by blather.

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Iceberg Sky, originally uploaded by blather.

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Adelie Penguin, originally uploaded by blather.

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Adelie Penguins: Oops, I just couldn't wait..., originally uploaded by blather.

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet
© Dave Walsh

Crabeater Seal, originally uploaded by blather.
Download high resolution version »

Crabeater seal. Crabeaters are perhaps the "second most numerous large species of mammals on Earth, after humans" with populations of around 50 million.

Isle of the Dead Iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.
Click here to order a print of Isle of the Dead »

Southern Ocean, 8th February 2007. Reminds of Isle of the Dead by Bocklin and Homage to Bocklin by Giger.

If you want to see how big this iceberg is, see this image, taken from the other side, with a helicopter for comparison.


Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

© 2007 Dave Walsh

Calm water, Southern Ocean, originally uploaded by blather.

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

Pointy Iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.

Southern Ocean, 7th February 2007


Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

Pointy Iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.

Southern Ocean, 7th February 2007


Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

Southern Ocean: The Esperanza in an icefield, originally uploaded by blather.

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

Southern rightwhale dolphin, originally uploaded by blather.

Southern rightwhale dolphin, 31/01/2007 from deck of Esperanza
© Dave Walsh


Photo made on board
Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

Get high resolution version: Humpback whale, Southern Ocean Whaling 2007, originally uploaded by blather.

The humpback is one of the great whales - a baleen whale, it's of the larger rorqual species, with adults ranging from12-16 metres (40-50 ft) and weighing around 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb). The humpback whale is the owner of a distinctive body shape, with extremely long pectoral fins and a head with with bristly nobbles. Humpbacks are acrobatic whales, and can be see breaching and slapping the water. Males produce a complex whale song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time. The purpose of the song is not yet clear, although it appears to have a role in mating. Wikipedia

Southern Ocean Iceberg, originally uploaded by blather.

Photo made on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

Iceberg, Southern Ocean, February 5th, 2007

Ocean Defender's Southern Ocean 2007 »

Flesh Footed Shearwater high resolution version »

© 2007 Dave Walsh

Southern Rightwhale Dolphin, 31/01/2007
© 2007 Dave Walsh
Photo made on board
Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet

Southern Rightwhale Dolphin, 31/01/2007
© 2007 Dave Walsh
Photo made on board
Greenpeace ship Esperanza's expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to find the Japanese whaling fleet