New Tecla video and International Wildlife Day
Today is International Wild life day. A day to be celebrated and a day to contemplate a little. This last week there has been a meeting of the UN concerning ways to safeguard the worlds marine biodiversity and thus the protection of our oceans. Little is known about the outcomes, but today would be the last day of this conference. And this did make me think and my mind wandered back to the voyage with the Tecla from Tenerife to the Falklands and onward from the Falklands to South Georgia and Antarctica.
During the past few months we have been privileged to see the most spectacular wild life, while on board the Tecla. We have seen, Minke, Sei, Fin, Humpback and possibly Blue Whales. We have seen Antarctic Fur Seals, Elephant Seal, Weddel seals, Leopard Seals, Crab eater seals, we have seen Gentoo, Macaroni, Rockhopper, Adelie, Chinstrap, Magellanic and King Penguins! We have seen, Great wanderers, Royal Albatross, we declared the Sooty Albatross our favorite, then we called the Cape Pigeon our favorite, then it was the Snow Petrel and even the Giant Petrel, which is not a pretty bird, has been our favorite. We have seen Commerson dolphins, Peale’s dolphins, Hourglass dolphins, Bottle Nose and Atlantic striped Dolphins and we have found the so called Common Dolphin to be a lot more than just ‘common’.
And it has struck me, that most of this wildlife was spotted when we entered the South Georgia Maritime zone, a Marine Protected Area. We sailed our way through two hundred miles of protected water, that was teeming with life. All around us where Fur Seals jumping out of the water, we were sometimes surrounded by a raft of penguins, diving and swimming, taking a look at what we were. Whale blows were heard all watch long and as we closed in on our safe anchorage a pod of whales was breaching, jumping high into the air and falling back into the water. It was astounding.
If these negotiations lead to anything, this could mean the world to the oceans! What South Georgia was able to get back, an eco-system in recovery, not decline, not in trouble, NO, an eco-system in recovery!
I have watched the South Georgia video for prospect visitors many times, but today, I watches it again twice. Because I believe what they have achieved means something. We all, can learn something off this. And we really hope these negotiations lead to something, especially on Wildlife day!
Want to watch the video of South Georgia? Find it on the website of the South Georgia government for prospect visitors , please brows a little further on their website if you have the time, it is just such a special place!
Our new Tecla video also voices a little more of our goals – watch it on Youtube now!
We realize tourism comes with threads to the environments like South Georgia, but if we do it responsible, we believe there is a lot of merit in taking our guest crew to see what wonders this protected area has to offer. We believe, you have to SEE to understand. And we try to do this is an as eco-friendly and low impact way as possible. In 2024 we will be back on South Georgia, and we can’t wait to see how they thrive!
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