Gentoo penguin; Antarctic Peninsula. Images from November 2014, expedition ship MV Fram.

The Black Browed Albatross is the albatross most commonly seen in the South Atlantic Ocean. Wingspan is eight feet.

Gallery

Scott Vail Photography

Albatrosses live year -round at sea, except when they come ashore to colonial nesting sites (Falkland Islands..

The blue whale is the largest animal that ever lived. Once abundant, it was hunted nearly to extinction, but is slowly recovering in the Antarctic and elsewhere. Sitings are uncommon in the southern ocean.

Click on a thumbnail and scroll through the gallery below to see larger images of Antarctica and the south Atlantic Ocean. .Scroll buttons are near the left and right edges of the images. All images copyright Scott Vail, 2014.

Nature and wildlife Photography

An Antarctic Skua steals a rockhopper penguin egg; Falkland Islands

The Antarctic Peninsula and the Islands that border it are magical. The scenery and wildlife in the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island and the Peninsula are like nowhere else. Seabirds, elephant seals, whales, penguins and more are abundant amid scenery that gives the feeling of being in a cathedral .

ANTARCTICA 2014.