The next stage of the project was fieldwork using drones to study whales from land at Cumberland Bay, South Georgia during December 2023-January 2024. This had not been tried before and the two man team worked hard to find good vantage points to overfly whales and overcome challenging weather conditions and difficult terrain (including many seals hiding in tussock!). You can read their report here.
Next, two months of boat-based surveys were conducted in South Georgia in February and March 2024, working on powerboats and staying close to Cumberland Bay and coastal waters. The six-person boat-based team arrived at KEP in mid-January with five scientists and one dedicated jet boat driver who had overwintered in previous seasons. Most whales were sighted in January and February before the breakup of iceberg D-30A to the north, which brought large tabular icebergs close to shore in the team’s survey area.
The team had a very busy season! Over 2,200 km of visual transect data were conducted, and 34 cetacean sightings were recorded during the field season. Drone images and identification photos were collected from humpback whales, southern right whales, Antarctic blue whales, fin whales, and Antarctic killer whales. Biopsy samples for genetic, hormone, and isotype analysis were collected from humpback whales, southern right whales, and an Antarctic blue whale. A particular highlight was February 12th, when the team observed a southern right whale mum and calf pair plus an Antarctic blue whale mum and calf pair within two miles of each other!
The main focus species for the season was humpback whales, but the swell conditions were too rough to attempt any satellite tagging when humpback whales were in the area. The team successfully tagged a southern right whale on 9th March (named “Disco” after Discovery House, where the team stayed at South Georgia). The tag transmitted until May 31st 2024, and Disco’s movements can be seen here.
The report of the 2024 South Georgia field season can be read here.