Up next in 10
If you are thinking of, out wondering, about cruising to Antarctica then you need to know that things are set to change quite a bit for Antarctica cruises. So much so you should consider going sooner rather than later if you have Antarctic cruising on your bucket cruise or must-do cruise list
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TikTok: @garybembridge
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0:00
i needed this long and expensive zoom
0:03
lens when i went to tanzania on a safari
0:05
a few years ago to see and capture the
0:07
wildlife up close
0:09
people assumed i was using this same
0:11
zoom lens when i started posting
0:13
pictures and videos like these on social
0:15
media whilst on my recent antarctica
0:18
trip
0:19
they were wrong
0:20
all i was using to get these was my
0:23
iphone my regular iphone the wildlife
0:25
was so plentiful and literally all
0:28
around my feet
0:29
during this trip i discovered there are
0:31
a few reasons i was seeing so much
0:33
wildlife and up so close
0:36
however
0:37
things are about to change and change
0:40
dramatically as i will explain
0:43
by the way if you're new here welcome
0:45
aboard i'm gary bembridge and it's my
0:47
goal to make it fun and easy to discover
0:49
plan and enjoy unforgettable cruise
0:51
vacations like this one i was told to
0:54
keep 15 feet from penguins 45 feet from
0:57
seals and 75 feet from the enormous
1:00
elephant seals but they made it
1:02
impossible to do try to stay any
1:05
distance from these creatures was
1:06
challenging particularly penguins and
1:08
young seals who just want to come and
1:10
find out what the hell is going on i
1:13
learned there are no real land predators
1:16
in antarctica for these animals unlike
1:18
in the arctic where there are polar
1:19
bears and foxes and so on the antarctic
1:22
wildlife haven't needed to develop on
1:24
land defense mechanisms so they treat
1:26
people like me and you with curiosity or
1:30
total disinterest because they don't see
1:32
us as a threat so they quite comfortably
1:35
allowed me to literally wander amongst
1:37
them their main threat by the way is
1:39
once they get into the ocean for example
1:42
leopard seals eat penguins up to 20 a
1:45
day and then the orcas hunt and eat the
1:47
leopard seals however
1:49
man did almost wipe out all the wildlife
1:52
in antarctica so why did i see so many
1:55
on this trip after the early explorers
1:58
visited in the late 1800s news of the
2:00
wildlife spread hunters headed down to
2:02
antarctica and first slaughtered the
2:05
antarctic fur seals
2:07
because the fur from the first hills
2:08
became very fashionable much in demand
2:10
it's estimated that 1.2 million
2:13
antarctic fur seals were killed in fact
2:15
it was so rough that in the late 1800s
2:17
one captain fanning boasted on one trip
2:19
alone he brought back 57 000 pellets as
2:23
the animals were not used to unknown
2:25
predators they basically just sat there
2:27
while they were literally clubbed to
2:29
death
2:30
less than 40 years after antarctica had
2:32
first been explored there were no
2:34
sightings i repeat no sightings of
2:36
antarctic fur seals at all in the area
2:40
so man then moved on to kill almost all
2:41
the whales for the oil it started around
2:44
1904 and ran up to the mid-1960s
2:47
we worked systematically through each
2:49
species until we pretty much killed them
2:52
all
2:52
and finding them was proving very
2:54
difficult over 61 000 blue whales and 48
2:58
000 fin whales were killed in the south
3:00
georgia area alone now once we'd wiped
3:03
out most of the whales man then moved on
3:05
to the elephant seals now this
3:07
hunting was a little bit more controlled
3:09
and it finally actually only peated out
3:11
in the 1960s because demand for the oil
3:13
basically fell and they couldn't make
3:15
any money
3:16
but we created other problems that also
3:18
wiped out other wildlife so 30 000 birds
3:22
were being drowned every year by fishing
3:24
trawlers using extended lines with
3:26
baited hooks so the birds would swoop
3:28
down to eat the bait they got hooked and
3:30
they were drowned 30 000 of them
3:33
in south georgia the whalers brought a
3:35
handful of reindeer to hunt and eat
3:37
however
3:39
after the whalers left in the 60s their
3:41
numbers grew to 7 000 they were eating
3:44
and destroying the ecosystem and the
3:46
habitat the birds relied on for breeding
3:48
and nesting therefore diminishing the
3:50
birds the wailing and the service ships
3:52
unknowingly brought rats and mice that
3:54
would start eating things like the tipit
3:56
bird eggs and the chicks they wiped them
3:59
out across most of south georgia while
4:01
seeds and plants that were alien to the
4:03
aerial growing and destroying plants key
4:05
to the wildlife and the birds so with
4:07
all that going on why was there so much
4:09
wildlife that i saw in antarctica for me
4:11
to see right now and for you to see too
4:14
although they had seemingly been wiped
4:16
out the fact that no one's been hunting
4:18
wildlife since the 1960s has led to this
4:21
really big resurgence over the last 40
4:24
odd years of wildlife for example an
4:26
unknown group of around about 100
4:27
antarctic fur seals were on bird island
4:30
that hadn't been massacred no one knew
4:31
they were there and they've now built up
4:33
to an estimated four million antarctic
4:36
first seals whales are slowly building
4:38
back too now that they're not being
4:39
hunted changes have been made to fishing
4:42
using kind of coloured ribbons that keep
4:44
the birds away so
4:46
much much fewer are being drowned south
4:48
georgia culled literally killed all of
4:50
the seven thousand reindeers a few were
4:52
taken to the falklands and got rid of
4:54
that problem they spent
4:56
13 million dollars to poison and
4:59
eradicate the rats and the mice too
5:02
wiping them out across the island so all
5:04
of this has meant a big resurgence of
5:06
wildlife and birds across the antarctic
5:08
however
5:09
that could be at its peak and all about
5:12
a change which means going sooner rather
5:14
than later is a really good idea while
5:17
wildlife is really at this peak stage
5:19
why is this whole issue so important
5:22
well the animals and the wildlife in
5:24
antarctica all rely heavily on krill the
5:27
whales the penguins the seals they all
5:30
eat it and if krill stocks go down
5:33
there's a big risk to the numbers of
5:35
wildlife in antarctica secondly as the
5:37
planet warms and ice reduces this will
5:40
throw the ecosystem of balance and
5:42
affect numbers we're already seeing some
5:44
of the penguin species are starting to
5:46
move further and further south due to
5:48
slight changes further in the north of
5:50
antarctica the warming of the ocean has
5:52
another impact because it affects the
5:54
numbers and the stocks of krill which as
5:56
i mentioned are so key to the wildlife
5:59
across antarctica now the other problem
6:01
is that microplastic particles are
6:03
starting to work through the food chain
6:06
in the area they're getting into the
6:07
water the acrylic eating them the
6:09
penguins eating the krill the seagulls
6:11
are eating the penguins the whales are
6:12
eating the seals and it's beginning to
6:14
build up in the whole ecosystem the
6:16
danger is that this buildup of plastic
6:19
within the whole system is going to
6:20
threaten the wildlife
6:22
more and more studies have been done
6:24
showing that this is a big and growing
6:26
risk to the wildlife so now
6:28
is the time to go when we're seeing
6:31
wildlife really flourishing and i'm glad
6:34
that i found this out but i didn't know
6:35
before i went but this was a critical
6:37
thing that i wish i'd known because it
6:39
would maybe go even sooner however there
6:42
is another mistake many people make when
6:45
thinking of going to antarctica i made
6:46
this mistake on my first trip and it
6:49
took this return trip to totally and
6:51
utterly rectify it now most of the trips
6:53
to antarctica only go to a tiny segment
6:56
of the region pretty much every single
6:58
trip does the iconic but very limited
7:01
antarctica trip lasting around 10 days
7:04
the antarctica region covers everything
7:06
south of 60 degrees although i like most
7:09
people thought think of antarctica
7:11
really as the continent it's a huge
7:13
continent by the way it's the fifth
7:15
largest of all of the seven continents
7:16
however
7:18
most trips only go to the antarctic
7:19
peninsula because it's easy to get to
7:21
it's about a thousand kilometers from
7:22
argentina but by doing that like i did
7:25
on my first trip you will only see a
7:28
very limited amount of wildlife and
7:29
landscapes very very limited indeed so
7:32
it's amazing but it's limited to see the
7:35
widest range in antarctica i strongly
7:37
recommend you go on a trip that includes
7:39
south georgia and ideally the south
7:41
orkney islands like i did on this return
7:44
trip
7:44
i now saw multiple species of penguins
7:47
when i went to the peninsula i only saw
7:49
gentoo and some chin strap penguins and
7:52
then in fairly small colonies if you
7:54
include south georgia like i did on this
7:56
return trip i saw king penguins in
7:58
places like salisbury plain where there
8:00
were over 200 000 breeding pairs 400 000
8:04
penguins i also got to see the macaroni
8:06
penguin and large deli penguin colonies
8:09
i also got to see the many more seal
8:12
species and in huge quantities i saw the
8:14
antarctic first seals crab eaters
8:15
leopard seals and weddle seals on my
8:18
peninsula trip i only got to see two
8:20
whales you're going to see many many
8:22
more as you travel around we've got much
8:24
more chance of seeing the humpback the
8:26
orca and the minky whale
8:28
you'll also get to see many more varied
8:31
landscapes and not only the admittedly
8:33
incredible ice and snow peninsula and
8:35
learn much more of the history i found
8:38
that to see more you need to go beyond
8:40
the peninsula it's not enough to just go
8:42
to the peninsula in my learning i wish
8:44
i'd known that before i went on my first
8:46
antarctica trip i would have done it
8:48
very differently i've done it more like
8:49
my second trip around 74 000 tourists
8:53
currently visit antarctica every year
8:55
that's about as many as go to disney
8:57
world in florida in one single day
9:00
however
9:01
there are now many more cruise lines
9:03
entering the expedition cruising space
9:06
and more and more people are starting to
9:08
head down there ayato the international
9:10
association of antarctic tour operators
9:13
was formed in 1991 with seven members it
9:16
now has over 100 i counted 54 operators
9:20
listed as members so not only do you
9:22
need to think wider about where you go
9:24
to see more
9:26
go now to enjoy the resurgence of the
9:27
wildlife but also go sooner than later
9:30
because it's going to get more crowded
9:32
and definitely busier going when you see
9:34
no other ship and just vast spaces with
9:37
wildlife is magical but it's going to
9:40
change soon there is a real risk that
9:42
man is creating new problems for
9:44
antarctica i feel that i went to the
9:47
arctic too late
9:48
because it was already changing and i'm
9:50
pleased i did not do the same for
9:51
antarctica it's an expensive trip but
9:54
the question i have is can you afford
9:56
not to go to antarctica and to go soon
9:58
now i suggest you find out how an
10:00
expedition cruise differs from a regular
10:02
cruise by watching this video where i
10:04
start with a thing that i'd not expected
10:06
at all when it came to expedition
10:08
cruising see you over there
#Wildlife
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