Organising a Mammalwatching Trip to Antarctica for 2026/2027 … who wants to come?
It was a lot of fun to reconnect with many mammalwatchers at the UK Bird Fair a week ago. I was particularly impressed by the number of posters and brochures on display featuring mammal pictures or the words “mammal watching”. This is a notable change since I was last there 8 years ago. As was the size of the audience Charles Foley and I attracted for our mammalwatching talk. We still have some way to go before we play stadiums, but we had three times the audience I had in 2016. Hard to know whether that is because of the rise in mammalwatching or the Foley-effect.
The Birdfair was also a chance to talk to people about bucket list destinations including Antarctica, somewhere that has been at the top of my list for 20 or more years. This year’s mammalwatching cruise to Svalbard was proof to me that the having a dedicated group of mammalwatchers on a cruise is critical to a successful trip. And a fun one. So now I’m convinced that the only way to visit Antarctica is also with a group of mammalwatchers.
I would like to get together a group for a cruise during 2026/27 season.
There are many options for Antarctica trips including the route, the timing, the size of the ship and of course the price. I have talked to several operators who run the smaller ships out there and gotten advice from experts. And although schedules and prices for 2026/27 will not be set for a few more months I have an approximate idea of options and price ranges. And for some trips it looks like we might get a better deal if we can get a group of 10 – 15 people or more to book.
So, as a first step, if you are interested then could you fill out this short google poll to let me know which routes and timings might work for you. Filling out the form does not mean any sort of commitment of course!
Antarctica Mammalwatching – Google Forms
Here is a bit more information on the options.
Most trips follow two main routes and these timings and prices are approximate.
Route 1 >> a 12 day trip between Ushuaia and the Antarctic Peninsula, which starts at about $10k pp
Route 2 >> a 20 day trip from Ushuaia > the Falkland Islands > South Georgia > Antarctic Peninsula > Ushuaia that starts at about $15k pp
Both trips ought to produce a similar diversity of seals but the longer trip gives much better chances for spotting rarer cetacean species including several beaked whale species (though flat seas are also very important). South Georgia is described as “one of the greatest wildlife spectacles in the world” … so the longer trip sounds like the way to go but of course is about 50% more expensive (and 50% longer).
The cruise season runs from around mid October November through mid-April. There are pros and cons of when to travel. Earlier trips will see more penguin species than the trips in March and April. But the later, penguin-lite, trips should encounter huge numbers of baleen whales and may be a bit less expensive. There is more daylight to search for wildlife during trips in the height of the Austral summer and the seas might be a bit flatter too (sometimes). Some trips run over the Christmas holidays which might be perfect timing for some of you and terrible timing for others.
I imagine just about everyone reading this would prefer a smaller ship and I have been looking into ships that take about 100-150 passenger, along with one much smaller ship. But as I said there are no firm 2026/27 details yet for any of them.
If this sounds potentially interesting please do fill out the google form thingy here and let me know your preferences… and I will continue to do more research and come up with a firmer proposal.
Antarctica Mammalwatching – Google Forms
Jon
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