Excitement at Ukraine’s Antarctic base as explorers come across fin whale, in first
Ukrainian polar explorers for the first time documented an encounter with a fin whale, world’s second largest.
The National Antarctic Scientific Center reported this on Facebook, Ukrinform saw.
"One of the world’s largest whales visited the waters near our Vernadsky Base! It was a fin whale, the first recorded sighting since the inception of the Ukrainian Antarctic research effort. This species of whale is the second largest on our planet. It can grow up to 26 meters long and weigh up to 75 tons," the report says.
The whale was spotted March 6 in the Penola Strait off the Argentine Islands (it is to this group that Galindez Island belongs, where the Vernadsky Research Base is located).
Although the observation lasted just a few minutes, polar explorers managed to photograph the giant, as well as take skin and fat samples.
Further lab research will help scientists determine the whale’s gender, learn more about its condition, and better understand the population structure of this species in the Antarctic.
As noted by the National Institute of Natural Resources and Energy, fin whales had been practically exterminated in the waters around Antarctica in the previous century. However, recently, their population is being intensively restored and they are returning to their original habitat.
These whales are now regularly seen in the northern Antarctic Peninsula and in the Drake Passage. It is expected that fin whale sightings will soon become regular near the Ukrainian Antarctic Station as well
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the National Antarctic Scientific Center and 49 other organizations from around the world gained free access to 64 research infrastructure sites in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Photo: National Antarctic Science Center, Facebook