Are wildlife sightings guaranteed on an Antarctica cruise?
No. Nobody can guarantee you a wild animal, and an operator who implies they can is telling you something about themselves rather than about Antarctica. Wildlife moves with food, ice, weather, breeding success and disease. A good expedition team uses experience, current reports and flexible planning
What wildlife can you see in the Falkland Islands?
Five penguin species breed there: gentoo, king, Magellanic, southern rockhopper and macaroni. Gentoos, Magellanics and rockhoppers are the highlights on most wildlife itineraries. The Falklands are the one destination on a polar route where rockhoppers and Magellanics are a realistic expectation rat
Can you see emperor penguins on a normal Antarctica cruise?
It is possible and exceptionally rare, and you should not book a standard Peninsula cruise hoping for it. Emperor penguins do not breed at the landing sites those cruises visit. An emperor seen on a normal western Peninsula route is a straggler, a long way from anywhere it should be. Exceptionally r
When do penguin chicks fledge in Antarctica?
Somewhere between February and March, and our own sources do not fully agree on where. The wildlife research puts Adélie fledging often in February and chinstraps from February into early March. Our guides, talking about the colonies they actually work, put fledging in March with first swims late in
Has bird flu affected Antarctica wildlife and landings?
Wildlife yes, landings mostly no. Highly pathogenic avian influenza has reached the region and has been associated with serious mortality in South Georgia, including seals and seabirds, with major recent changes recorded in some elephant seal breeding counts. Antarctic penguins have so far not been
How is Arctic wildlife different from Antarctic wildlife?
The Arctic has land mammals. Antarctica does not. Everything else follows from that. In the Arctic you can see polar bears, Arctic foxes, reindeer and musk oxen in the right regions, plus walruses, seals, whales and enormous seabird cliffs. In Antarctica the wildlife is penguins, seals, whales and s
When is the best time to see whales in Antarctica?
Late February and March. Whales are present through the whole season, and a December trip can produce them too, but the character of the encounters changes as the season goes on. By late summer they’ve been feeding for months, they’re relaxed, and they become interactive, approaching Zodiacs and han
When can you see baby penguins in Antarctica?
January, if fluffy chicks are your priority. Eggs hatch around Christmas, gentoo incubation runs about 34 days, and by mid January the colonies are full of the fat grey meatballs people picture. Aim at the first three weeks of January for the best odds. Hatching drifts by a couple of weeks year to y
When is the best time to visit South Georgia?
There isn’t a single best month, but ask most guides and they’ll pick early season, late October and November. That’s when the big bull elephant seals are jousting, which is the signature early sight and essentially finished by the second week of November. The light is at its best, you can be ashore
What is the difference between early, mid and late season in Antarctica?
Three priorities map cleanly onto three parts of the season, and picking your priority is a better way to choose than picking a month. Landscape, deep snow and the snow-dependent activities go early. Penguin chicks go mid. Interactive whales, wildlife behaviour and the best pricing go late. Everythi