Winter Bird Island Whale Sightings Update

The past few months have brought some incredible whale sightings around the island, and we’re excited to share the latest updates with you.

Zoological Field Assistants (ZFAs) Katherine Thomas and Hannah Greetham have been busy observing these fascinating animals from different locations around the island. Take a look at this map to see where these sightings have taken place.

They have also been taking individual whale identification photos to share with the Sustained Monitoring project.

A huge thanks to Katherine, Hannah and Jamie for working in the challenging winter conditions. They are showing why we call our research program WildWaterWhales!

Katherine has been sharing the following field updates for April through June.

26 April: Southern right whales were sighted on 26^th April from Main Bay headland at 11:55 (Bird Island time – 2 hours behind the UK), travelling slowly down the coast of Bird Island (I presume they had come through Bird Sound, but I didn’t see this). I first spotted a blow behind rocks at the far side of Jordan Cove, and then one lifted is pectoral fin out of the water. Both whales surfaced off Main Bay headland, close to shore (~100m). They continued travelling slowly past Everman Cove and Round How – swimming close to the surface and not lifting their tail fluke when they dived. I think they split up about 12:40 – one continued. I think they split up about 12:40 – one continued travelling along the coast and out of sight, while the other moved out between Bird Island and South Georgia mainland. Blows and a tail fluke were sighted several times in the distance between the islands, at 13:17 and 14:13 – at least one of the whales was feeding in the area for most of the afternoon. The last sighting of a blow was at 16:00.

27 April: A southern right whale was also spotted feeding in the same area between the islands – first sighted at 14:10 and still in the area at 17:30.

Hannah Greetham also spotted the whales on the 26^th from Wanderer Ridge in the morning and from colony N (above Molly Meadows) later in the day.

11^th May: I spotted the two humpbacks at 14:03 from the headland above SSB. I was watching two leopard seals at the time, who both disappeared when the whales travelled past. The humpbacks were travelling slowly south along the coastline. At 14:10, I sighted a southern right whale a little further offshore. It travelled north towards Bird Sound, before turning round and moving south again. At 17:50, I spotted two southern right whales off Round How, lifting their tail flukes and pectoral fins out of the water. They were still there when I left at 18:05, when the light started to fade.

In June, there have been a lot of whale sightings recently – almost every day (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th June!). Here are some more detailed reports:

7^th June: A whale blow was first seen at 12:10. At least three whales were seen feeding between Bird Island and the South Georgia mainland – two southern right whales and one humpback whale. They remained in the area until at least 16:33.

I took ID images of one southern right whale, although it was quite far offshore, so I am not sure the image quality is good enough for ID.

12^th June:

We had a pretty incredible sighting. A southern right whale was spotted !!inside!! Freshwater Bay, right by Iceberg Point (at 16:17). I could not believe what I was seeing! I only managed to get photos of its tail after it had left Freshwater. (This spot is in the bay close to the station, where whales are rarely seen, so very exciting).

13^th June: Two southern right whales were seen travelling slowly south past Bird Island between 12:53 and 13:10.

Stay connected for more updates from Bird Island’s incredible wildlife monitoring.  You can also follow us on Instagram @wildwaterwhales.