I GLIMPSE LAND FROM MY CABIN window after almost 36 hours aboard the Strannik. I’ve spent a lot of time at sea over the years, but this is my first open-ocean crossing – and one of the most turbulent passages in the world: the subantarctic waters of the Southern Ocean.
It’s June 2021 and I’m 465km south of New Zealand; it’s the depths of winter here and a storm is raging.
I’ve sailed to these remote seas as a photographer and crew on a three-week survey of southern right whales, led by biologist Emma Carroll from the University of Auckland. As we enter Port Ross, the northern gateway to the Auckland Islands, we cruise at a slow speed: we know that the whales are out there in their hundreds. I head up to the deck and into the wind and rain to join my fellow nine crew members (who include marine biologists, a ranger, wildlife filmmakers and a doctor) all straining to spot any animal in our path. I’m about to see my first southern right whale, and my heart is pounding. Just minutes later a distinctive dark, encrusted head emerges from the churning, angry swell.
As we make it
