Antarctica: Whale Watching Discovery & Learning | Ortelius

Your voyage begins where the world drops off. Ushuaia, Argentina, reputed to be the southernmost city on the planet, is located on the far southern tip of South America. Starting in the afternoon, you embark from this small resort town on Tierra del Fuego, nicknamed “The End of the World,” and sail the mountain-fringed Beagle Channel for the remainder of the evening.

Over the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same experiences encountered by the great polar explorers who first charted these regions: cool salt breezes, rolling seas, maybe even a fin whale spouting up sea spray. After passing the Antarctic Convergence – Antarctica’s natural boundary, formed when north-flowing cold waters collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas – you are in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone. Not only does the marine life change, the avian life changes too. Wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels are a few of the birds you might see.

The Antarctic landscape presents a stunning spectacle of gray stone peaks dusted with snow and towering formations of broken blue-white ice, amidst a diverse array of wildlife both above and below. As you navigate past the snow-capped Melchior Islands and through the Schollaert Channel between Brabant and Anvers Islands, several notable sites await exploration:

Danco Island offers opportunities to observe gentoo penguins nesting on the island, along with sightings of Weddell and crabeater seals nearby.

Neko Harbour boasts mammoth glaciers and wind-carved snow, providing ideal conditions for Zodiac cruises and landings with close-up views of the surrounding alpine peaks.

Paradise Bay invites you to embark on a Zodiac cruise through sprawling, ice-flecked waters, with a high likelihood of encountering humpback and minke whales.

Pléneau & Petermann Islands, weather permitting, allow for a potential passage through the Lemaire Channel in search of humpback and minke whales, as well as leopard seals.

Port Lockroy, accessible via the Neumayer Channel, offers the opportunity to visit the former British research station on Goudier Island, now transformed into a museum and post office. Activities around Jougla Point may include encounters with gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags.

At nearby sites like Damoy Point, you may have the chance for snowshoeing to the old ski-way, a favorite camping site.

Wilhelmina Bay & Guvernøren provide excellent opportunities for spotting humpback whales. You may also embark on a Zodiac cruise culminating at the ghostly wreck of the Guvernøren, a whaling vessel that caught fire here in 1915. Around the Melchior Islands, amid a frozen landscape populated with icebergs, further encounters with whales, leopard seals, and crabeater seals are possible.

Charlotte Bay offers the potential to encounter a variety of wildlife, including gentoo penguins, Weddell seals, and possibly migrating whale species such as humpback whales or minke whales.

Please note that departure times are subject to conditions in the Drake Passage.

Your return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.

Every adventure, no matter how grand, must eventually come to an end. It’s now time to disembark in Ushuaia, but with memories that will accompany you wherever your next adventure lies.

Please note: Cruise itinerary is subject to change depending on weather conditions, ice conditions and other factors.