The Wildlife of South Georgia – Whales

Lead image credit: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

South Georgia is home to some incredible wildlife. Join us for this mini-series as Rachel Davies, volunteer writer, introduces us to some of the animals that call South Georgia home. For the second instalment, we’ll be taking a deep dive to look at the whales and dolphins that frequent the waters around the island.

South Georgia is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, offering a biodiverse habitat for wildlife due to its nutrient-rich waters. It offers feeding grounds for many whale and dolphin species. These marine mammals have a turbulent history with the island, with their numbers significantly reduced due to the booming industrial whaling industry. You can find out more about the whaling industry at South Georgia here.

Since the whaling industry ceased in South Georgia, marine mammal numbers have begun to recover. There’s now a much greater chance of seeing one of these beautiful creatures in the waters around the island. Austral summer is the best time of year for whale watching, particularly late summer in February and March. Here are some of the species you might spot.

Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus

Blue whales are the largest animal to have ever lived on Earth. Their immense size makes them almost unbelievable, with adults typically reaching between 23-27 meters, though one individual was recorded as reaching 29.9meters in length! These whales don’t get their name from their size though; they get it from their mottled blue colouration. Individual blue whales can even be identified from this mottled patterning on their flanks!

 

Orca, Orcinus orca

Orca are a very distinctive animal, with their striking black and white colouration making them obvious to most. In addition, they have a distinctive dorsal fin- that can even help sex the animal, with males having a long straight fin, and females having a shorter, slightly curved fin. Also known as killer whales, these animals have quite a reputation gained from their magnificent, social hunting skills. Despite this name though, they are actually not a whale at all- they are actually the largest dolphin species.

 

Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae

Another easily recognised species of whale is the humpback. These large animals are distinctive due to their long pectoral fins, the ridged appearance of their throats, and their huge tail fins. Tail fins can be used to identify individuals based on colouration, shape and any identifying features like scarring. In fact, if you manage to snap a photo of one, you can get it identified using Happywhale.

 

Southern right whale, Eubalaena australis

This species of whale was one of the first to be hunted due to their slow swimming, making them easy to catch. Hunting of the Southern right whale was banned in 1935, but they were hunted to near extinction before this ban.

They are a very large, bulky whale and they have an unusually large head- it is almost a third of their total body length! They are mostly black with some white colouration on their belly and chin. They also have an unusual feature called callosities- these are white/cream patches of raised skin, and they are often found on the head and jaw. These callosities can even be used to identify individuals as the patterning created by them is unique!

Antarctic minke whale, Balaenoptera bonaerensis

Also known as the Southern minke whale, this animal is rather small as far as whales go. They are a close relative of the common minke whale, which is distinctive for having a white band on their flippers- the Antarctic minke whale has no such band.

Their skin is a black/dark brown colour all over their body, apart from their belly which is pale. The also have two grey chevon marks on the sides of their body, which creates a ‘m’ shape. They have a streamlined body, a pointed head and a tall hook-shaped dorsal fin. They spend most of their time in the waters around Antarctica, with November through to January being the best time to spot them.

 

Southern fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus quoyi

There are three named sub-species of the fin whale, and the Southern fin whale is the Southern Hemisphere sub-species. Fin whales are the second largest whale species, after the blue whale, reaching up to 27 meters. They have streamlined bodies, a v-shaped head and a tall, hooked dorsal fin.

Their colouration is what is most fascinating though. They are black/grey with a white belly, but on their head, they exhibit something called asymmetrical colouring- this means they are dark on the lower side of their left chin and light on the lower side of the right chin. And to make it more interesting their tongue is coloured the opposite way- light on the left and dark on the right! In addition to this, they also have a light grey ‘blaze’ on the right side of the head and several V-shaped chevrons along the back. And, on some, the underside of the tail fluke is white with a dark border. This crazy arrangement of colour is unique to each whale so they can be identified individually based on the patterns!

Regardless of the time of year you visit, you will always be treated to wonderful wildlife encounters around, and on, the island. In the next blog in the series, we will be looking at some of the bird life that calls South Georgia home.