Presenter: Alvaro Jaramillo

Program: Birding the Southern Oceans and Antarctica

There is no greater wilderness than the Southern Ocean! If you take the globe and look at it from the south pole, there is a huge amount of water there encircling Antarctica, between it and the southern points of the continents and major islands. Seabirds, whales, fish, seals, move through these waters, some like the Wandering Albatross unimpeded by land. The albatross may circle the globe at these latitudes many times in their life. There are islands with hundreds of thousand of penguins, millions of prions (a small seabird) and astounding numbers of fur seals, elephant seals and whales. It is just spellbinding, and these areas are too far away for large cities to have sprung up, at the most some of these islands have a small town or perhaps no one at all on them. The distance you have to travel to get there, the lack of “civilization” and the incredible numbers of birds and other animals is what makes the Southern Ocean so enticing for the naturalist.

I will talk about some of the wonderful birds and wildlife of the subantarctic islands of New Zealand, as well as South America. Places like South Georgia, the Chatham Islands, Macquarie and of course the Antarctic Peninsula. Some of the places and wildlife you see here are life changing, and hopefully I can convey the wonder and beauty that the far south has for you to see.

Bio: Alvaro has been birding since he was 11 years old, and started guiding local trips as a teenager. He is a biologist, researcher, conservationist and guide. He started Alvaro's Adventures to provide his own style of trip leading to tours. About the experience of travel through birds, having a good time while birding! This philosophy guides all of our tours, although each guide adds their own personal touch to each trip.