Ukrainian scientists have discovered the early return of humpback whales to the Antarctic Peninsula region, in the area where the Akademik Vernadsky polar station is located. This was reported by the National Antarctic Scientific Center, according to UNN.
Ukrainian scientists have discovered the early return of humpback whales to the Antarctic Peninsula region (where Vernadsky is located). This information is also confirmed by the international resource Happywhale, where scientists and amateurs from all over the world upload photos of whale observations.
According to the resource, the first humpbacks of the season were seen on October 20 and 22 by passengers of the vessel "Silver Wind" in Dallmann Bay and Orne Harbor.
Ukrainian polar explorers registered whales on October 25, but further south - in the Lemaire Channel.
We approached the northern part of Hovgaard Island by boat, where we had previously seen orcas and Antarctic minke whales. And this time we met a pair of orcas that led us to the beginning of the Lemaire Channel. There we lost them, but later stumbled upon a pair of humpbacks.
This is currently the earliest spring registration of humpbacks in the Vernadsky area - both according to observations by Ukrainian scientists and according to Happywhale data.
Every year in spring, humpback whales of the Southern Hemisphere return from their breeding grounds near the equator to Antarctic waters rich in krill. In Antarctica, humpbacks will feed until late autumn.
The photos from October 25 have already been uploaded to Happywhale. However, it has not yet been possible to determine where these whales came from, as they turned out to be new to the database.
The task is complicated by the fact that only dorsal fins are captured in the photo. There are significantly fewer such images in the database than photos of tail fins, by the patterns on which humpbacks are usually identified.
Recall
Subantarctic penguins living on Galindez Island, where the Ukrainian polar station "Akademik Vernadsky" is located, laid their first egg this season.