when this place was in full swing a
cloud of smoke covered the skies 300 men
toiled as thousands of whales lost their
but who started this and how did we get
to the point of nearly exterminating the
how is it possible that life can come
back from the dead the island of South
Georgia was the scene of one of the
species driven to near extinction the
whaling stations were abandoned this is
an awe-inspiring story of how if given
the chance Nature can bounce back on a
scale you’re not going to believe
my name’s Bertie Gregory and I’m a
National Geographic wildlife filmmaker
this is Resurrection Island five or six
days sailing ahead of us
870 miles cause stuff on the bar and
hotter pontoon
this is the story of our adventure to
South Georgia once devastated but now
home to one of the highest
concentrations of wild life on the
planet Amy I can’t wait to see living
proof that it’s not too late to save
but I thought that was bad now we’ve hit
the Antarctic circumpolar current the
largest wind driven currents on earth
with sudden shifts in temperature and
visibility Wow 34 and we bumped into
this really weird eerie sea fog and you
know it’s fine for us imagine what it
must have been like for the first people
coming to South Georgia somebody up the
bow maybe someone up the mast just
spying for icebergs the extreme winds
and colds here a huge deterrents for
human life but the ACC actually creates
the current is very nutrient-rich and
the underwater topography surrounding
South Georgia channels these nutrients
up to the surface kicking off a food
chain bonanza
this is nuts
we’re in the middle of nowhere and a
couple of dolphins have come to play in
the foul way
everything’s starting to get wilder and
Wilder all good indications that were
cold and desolate in the south glaciers
and the North coveting grass as tall as
a human
[Music]
when Captain Cook first arrived here in
1775 he thought he had finally found
Antarctica but after rounding the
southern tip he realized it was just an
island he was so angry he even named it
Cape Disappointment he said and I quote
doomed by nature to perpetual frigid
nests never to fill the warmth of the
sun’s rays whose horrible and savage
aspects
I have not words to describe must of the
raining or something because it looks
pretty neutral to me a not so funny
consequence of Captain Cook’s findings
was that he sent word back to England
that the place was packed full of seals
the first boats arrived just a few years
later living conditions were terrible
but hey business was great a hundred and
twelve thousand pelts in one season
alone
by the 20th century The Wailers had
followed suit boats got bigger and so
did their captures the largest whale
ever recorded on our planet was the 33
meter a hundred and ten foot long female
blue whale
she was processed in the brand-new
station of grouper Caen in 1912
South Georgia became the principal
location for all land-based whaling in
the southern hemisphere 300 men were
they brought their families they played
football they built a church
over a hundred and seventy-five thousand
whales were killed
seals depleted from millions to just
four hundred individuals and the boats
brought an invasion of egg-eating rats
it’s so eerie and to think that we had
the understanding that there’s only so
hard you can push populations of whales
and seals but we just kept work we just
kept going and going and going because
it was all about short-term economic
gain not long-term sustainability hunted
to extinction whaling became financially
enviable one by one the stations were
shut down all this destruction forced us
to reckon today South Georgia is a
protected area the biggest island rat
eradication program in history was
launched and the island was declared
rat-free in 2018
many of the birds have bounced back in
big numbers fur seals have sprung back
from just four hundred to over three
million this contrast sums up south
Georgia this place was once all about
death now it’s jam-packed full of life
have rebounded in just unbelievable
things are definitely better now but
South Georgia faces a new set of threats
the warming climate and changing ocean
currents have major repercussions for
the wildlife here like forcing mat
penguins to forage further from their
the longline fishing industry needs
international cooperation to save
but the resurrection is not quite
finished southern right whales are one
of the longest living animals and so
there’s a good chance that one of these
whales was alive whilst whaling was
going on on South Georgia so to know
that they’re now coming back and they’re
having a go at some mating it’s great
news for the whales great news for South
Georgia and obviously great news for the
whole concept of a second chance let’s
make sure we give more of our wild
[Applause] [Music]
cloud of smoke covered the skies 300 men
toiled as thousands of whales lost their
but who started this and how did we get
to the point of nearly exterminating the
how is it possible that life can come
back from the dead the island of South
Georgia was the scene of one of the
species driven to near extinction the
whaling stations were abandoned this is
an awe-inspiring story of how if given
the chance Nature can bounce back on a
scale you’re not going to believe
my name’s Bertie Gregory and I’m a
National Geographic wildlife filmmaker
this is Resurrection Island five or six
days sailing ahead of us
870 miles cause stuff on the bar and
hotter pontoon
this is the story of our adventure to
South Georgia once devastated but now
home to one of the highest
concentrations of wild life on the
planet Amy I can’t wait to see living
proof that it’s not too late to save
but I thought that was bad now we’ve hit
the Antarctic circumpolar current the
largest wind driven currents on earth
with sudden shifts in temperature and
visibility Wow 34 and we bumped into
this really weird eerie sea fog and you
know it’s fine for us imagine what it
must have been like for the first people
coming to South Georgia somebody up the
bow maybe someone up the mast just
spying for icebergs the extreme winds
and colds here a huge deterrents for
human life but the ACC actually creates
the current is very nutrient-rich and
the underwater topography surrounding
South Georgia channels these nutrients
up to the surface kicking off a food
chain bonanza
this is nuts
we’re in the middle of nowhere and a
couple of dolphins have come to play in
the foul way
everything’s starting to get wilder and
Wilder all good indications that were
cold and desolate in the south glaciers
and the North coveting grass as tall as
a human
[Music]
when Captain Cook first arrived here in
1775 he thought he had finally found
Antarctica but after rounding the
southern tip he realized it was just an
island he was so angry he even named it
Cape Disappointment he said and I quote
doomed by nature to perpetual frigid
nests never to fill the warmth of the
sun’s rays whose horrible and savage
aspects
I have not words to describe must of the
raining or something because it looks
pretty neutral to me a not so funny
consequence of Captain Cook’s findings
was that he sent word back to England
that the place was packed full of seals
the first boats arrived just a few years
later living conditions were terrible
but hey business was great a hundred and
twelve thousand pelts in one season
alone
by the 20th century The Wailers had
followed suit boats got bigger and so
did their captures the largest whale
ever recorded on our planet was the 33
meter a hundred and ten foot long female
blue whale
she was processed in the brand-new
station of grouper Caen in 1912
South Georgia became the principal
location for all land-based whaling in
the southern hemisphere 300 men were
they brought their families they played
football they built a church
over a hundred and seventy-five thousand
whales were killed
seals depleted from millions to just
four hundred individuals and the boats
brought an invasion of egg-eating rats
it’s so eerie and to think that we had
the understanding that there’s only so
hard you can push populations of whales
and seals but we just kept work we just
kept going and going and going because
it was all about short-term economic
gain not long-term sustainability hunted
to extinction whaling became financially
enviable one by one the stations were
shut down all this destruction forced us
to reckon today South Georgia is a
protected area the biggest island rat
eradication program in history was
launched and the island was declared
rat-free in 2018
many of the birds have bounced back in
big numbers fur seals have sprung back
from just four hundred to over three
million this contrast sums up south
Georgia this place was once all about
death now it’s jam-packed full of life
have rebounded in just unbelievable
things are definitely better now but
South Georgia faces a new set of threats
the warming climate and changing ocean
currents have major repercussions for
the wildlife here like forcing mat
penguins to forage further from their
the longline fishing industry needs
international cooperation to save
but the resurrection is not quite
finished southern right whales are one
of the longest living animals and so
there’s a good chance that one of these
whales was alive whilst whaling was
going on on South Georgia so to know
that they’re now coming back and they’re
having a go at some mating it’s great
news for the whales great news for South
Georgia and obviously great news for the
whole concept of a second chance let’s
make sure we give more of our wild
[Applause] [Music]
Please follow and like us: