Literalmente um mar de baleias... pelo fotografo Ralph Lee Hopkins.
@RalphLeeHopkins // "Out ahead of the ship the sea looked like a geyser field. The most experienced among us never have seen such a sight. All across the horizon are towering whale blows. Too many whale blows to count. Hundreds if not a thousand or more. Towering blows. The arching backs as they surfaced reveal a distinct dorsal fin. Fin whales, the second latest whales on Earth, called "greyhounds of the sea” for their ability to swim fast. We are offshore of Coronation Island, in the remote South Orkney Islands in the Southern Ocean. Conditions are perfect. The blows are backlit by the sun, lighting up like flashbulbs. Millions of sea birds in every direction, including petrels, fulmars, albatross, and penguins (not flying). All are here for the same reason–feeding on a bounty of krill, Euphausia superba, the keystone species of the Southern Ocean that surrounds the White Continent of Antarctica. A blue whale surfaces not far from the ship, the largest whale of them all. Seems ironic that the largest animals on earth east some of the smallest prey. The krill factory ships on the horizon are here for the same reason–harvesting krill with powerful vacuum systems, raising questions about sustainability and protecting an ecosystem already hunted once to the brink of extinction. Photos can’t do the situation justice. Video reveals the multitudes in a sweeping expanse of the scene. Perhaps the single largest gathering of fin whales ever encountered and documented. Tears–an experience never to be forgotten. We are humbled to witness such a spectacle. Another day on the Epic Antarctica Expedition on board the National Geographic Endurance."
