Fin Whales in the Drake Passage

I spend hours upon hours of time in the bridge of the ship when were are undertaking the two day crossing of the Drake Passage to Antarctica. The reason for these long hours in the bridge is because anything can simply appear at any given time without warning, which is amazing but also you never want to leave the bridge because if you do then you know you are going to miss something. Lets just say that this has happened to me a few times over the years!

This last crossing from Ushuaia to the South Shetland Islands was no different with my long hours on the bridge paying off when we spotted the first pod of feeding Fin Whales off the bow of the ship. These whales are the second largest whales in the world, only second to the famous Blue Whale, which I am still yet to interact with from a zodiac - maybe this season it will happen..?? These big animals were in a feeding mode, as they circled over a particular area the entire time the ship came near them and they maintained this behaviour, as we past them without delay. The photos do not really do it justice but just knowing these animals can grow to over 20-23m is beyond impressive to me.