Surviving the southern whalers
Programme
Expedition Date
25 November 2008 - 16 December 2008
The Mission
Based on ice-breaker HMS Endurance, the Frozen Planet team is filming the predators that feed on the sometimes huge swarms of krill that form bait balls in the waters around South Georgia. To find a mass gathering of seals, penguins, seabirds and whales, Royal Navy helicopter crews keep a look out from above while a dive team searches underwater.
Latest Stories
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The whalers unwanted giftSouth Georgia, was once one of the most important whaling sites on the planet. Now abandoned, a stowaway remains.
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Whaling and wildlifeSimon Nash discovers whether South Georgia's wildlife has returned after decades of hunting.
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Shackleton's LegacyRoyal marines use South Georgia's tough environment for training. But does the island's wildlife also venture inland?
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Counting South Georgia's fur sealsSimon Nash meets BAS photographer Pete Bucktrout whose aerial photos help scientists count seal populations.
Meet the explorers
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Simon NashSimon is a keen diver and he specialises in underwater filming. His deepest dive was to 2,650m to film hydrothermal vents for The Abyss Live.
Where on Earth?
South Georgia is in the Southern Ocean, 2,150km east of Tierra del Fuego (the tip of South America). In Antarctica, breeding space is at a premium, so any ice-free land in the huge Southern Ocean is a magnet to birds and seals. South Georgia has a spectacular concentration of wildlife. It is home to nesting king and macaroni penguins and albatrosses and it harbours the largest population of Antarctic fur seals on the planet.
© Microsoft Virtual Earth, image courtesy of Navteq
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