See nearly 1,000 whales feeding on krill at the same time. This is a world record

Last year, passengers aboard a cruise ship near Antarctica saw an extremely rare

and a breathtaking spectacle:a giant aggregation of baleen whales feeding on vast quantities of krill as far as the eye can see. According to a new study in which scientists analyzed footage of whale watchers, there were about 1,000 whales present at the site at one time. At the same time, their number was initially estimated at several hundred individuals.

Whale watchers observed their gatheringJanuary 13, 2022 aboard the National Geographic Endurance, a polar exploration cruise ship operated by Lindblad Expeditions in partnership with NatGeo. The ship was about 15 kilometers north of Coronation Island, the largest of the South Orkney Islands, when it encountered whales feeding, National Geographic reports. The aggregation mainly consisted of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), which grow up to 26 m in length and are second in size only to the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus).

Observer video published March 8, 2022year on the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic YouTube channel. The footage shows how fin whales rush to the surface in search of food, and fountains of water gush from their breathing holes.

“We are surrounded by them.They literally bump into each other because there are so many of them,” Conor Ryan, a local zoologist who was also on the ship, said in the video. There were so many whales that tourists could feel their breath, he added. The zoologist initially estimated that there were between 200 and 400 whales in the aggregation. But it was difficult to say exactly how many there really were because observers could only see the whales that were on the surface, not those feeding below.

In a new study publishedIn the journal Ecology, Ryan and his colleagues reanalyzed photos and videos from the scene to better estimate the number of whales. Experts determined that there were about 970 fin whales in the “supergroup,” making it the largest ever recorded. The area was also home to at least one blue whale and a pair of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), as well as Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) and thousands of seabirds, including petrels, penguins and albatrosses.

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Cover photo: Av Peter Duley/NOAA Fisheries, Public domain