The Marine Mammal Institute's Joel G Ortega-Ortiz was leader of the Antarctic expedition that tagged humpbacks for love earth. Read his expedition diary and find out how the team tagged our six whales.

12 February 2007
Craig Hayslip, a colleague from the Marine Mammal Institute, and I departed Ushuaia, Argentina to conduct a study on the movement patterns of humpback whales around and from the western Antarctic Peninsula. The objective of the study was to deploy satellite-monitored radio tags on 12 individuals to track them and identify their foraging areas in the late summer and their migratory routes toward wintering areas.

We boarded the tour vessel Explorer at Ushuaia to be transported to the Antarctic continent, taking along four boxes of equipment and cold weather gear necessary for the rough working conditions we would face in Antarctica. The Explorer, a cruise ship operated by the company GAP Adventures, transported us free of charge, as a contribution towards scientific research. During the trip Craig and I both gave lectures to the passengers on the cruise to explain our research and talk about our work plans for the expedition.

This map shows many of the geographical features mentioned in this diary.

16 February 2007
The trip from Ushuaia to the Antarctic Peninsula took four days. The weather was very nice during transit across the Drake Passage. After arriving in the Gerlache Strait, the Explorer made radio contact with the expedition sailing vessel the Spirit of Sydney to arrange a rendezvous.  

We arrived into the Errera Channel just after lunch. While some passengers disembarked for a tour of Danco Island, Craig and I awaited the arrival of the Spirit of Sydney. Our equipment was then transferred to the 18-metre-long sailing vessel that would be our base of operations for the next few weeks.  

Craig and I were received aboard the Spirit of Sydney by owners and skippers Cath Hew and Darrel Day, and first mate Magnus Day. Cath and Darrel volunteered their work aboard the Spirit of Sydney and donated four weeks of charter time to facilitate whale research in the Antarctic Peninsula.

Also on the vessel were Canadian researchers Charles Short, Philippe Rouget and Michael Hann, who had spent the previous two weeks working on a killer whale study conducted by the Coastal Wildlife Research Foundation. After our arrival, the team changed focus to humpback whale research. The eight of us on board would be living and working together in close quarters until early March.

The vessel anchored at Paradise Harbor in the Gerlache Strait to spend the night and we organised shifts to watch for floating ice, which could damage the boat.

17 February 2007
We rose at 7:00am to prepare for our first day of whale research. The first task was to inspect and prepare the rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB). The six-metre-long RHIB was rented in Ushuaia and transported to Antarctica aboard the Akademik Sergei Vavilov, a former research vessel that conducts tours for the company Peregrine Adventures. The transportation of the RHIB, fuel, supplies – and us - was provided free of charge by Peregrine Adventures on board the Vavilov and her sister ship Akademik Ioffe. Darrel Day and Philippe Rouget had made a big effort to coordinate dates and times to load equipment onto the vessels at Ushuaia and rendezvous with the Spirit of Sydney in Antarctica. This research project would not have been possible without the logistical support from Spirit of Sydney, Peregrine Adventures and GAP Adventures.

We tested the RHIB, its 40hp outboard motor, and the strength of a wooden platform built on the bow, which extended approximately one metre in front of the boat. This structure was very important for deploying the tags correctly. Since the antenna must be as vertical as possible, we needed to make a close approach to the whales. The platform was built in Ushuaia by Charlie, Phil and Mike, but it still needed to be tested to determine that it was strong enough to support two people while the RHIB was cruising. Once the RHIB was tested and ready, we  transferred our equipment and geared up to go out and look for whales.

By mid-morning we boarded the RHIB and set out to search for whales. The Spirit of Sydney lifted anchor and followed. The five-person tagging team on board the RHIB consisted of:

- Tag deployment (Joel)
- Photo-identification (Craig)
- Skin biopsy sampling (Phil)
- Videographer (Mike) and
- Boat driver (Charlie)

We spotted several whales in Andvord Bay and approached several for tagging but we didn't deploy any tags. After seven hours out on the RHIB, we headed back to meet the Spirit of Sydney. The RHIB was still too slow with five people aboard, so it was decided that for future tagging work we would work with only four people and no video would be taken.

18 February 2007
In the early morning we went out with the RHIB into Andvord Bay. A pair of whales was encountered on the southern end of the Errera Channel. This pair consisted of what we determined was likely to be a mother and a year-old calf. At 14:21 GMT we deployed the first tag on the mother.

We spotted and approached other groups of whales during the day, but no other tags were deployed. After approximately eight hours on the RHIB, we headed for Cuverville Island, where the Spirit of Sydney had anchored for the night.

19 February 2007
We began our search for whales at the north end of the Errera Channel. We didn't find any whales in this area so we headed for the Gerlache Strait, where we deployed two tags. At 13:07 GMT we spotted a pair of adults and tagged one of them. At 20:50 GMT we encountered a mother/calf pair and deployed a tag on the mother.

We then moved north towards Hughes Bay where we saw several groups of humpback whales 'bubble-netting' for krill (foraging). At 22:04 GMT we approached a group of four adults and tagged one of them. At 22:25 we approached a pair of adults and deployed our fourth tag of the day.

After more than ten hours on the RHIB, cruising through the Gerlache Strait, we headed toward Cierva Cove. When we arrived we found the Spirit of Sydney manoeuvring to anchor in a small area surrounded by icebergs. The wind started to pick up and some of the ice floats drifted dangerously close to the sailing vessel. After tying up shore lines and securing the Spirit of Sydney, we decided who would be on night ice watch by rolling dice.