Nightingale Island
In order to understand the limits of life on our planet, researchers or the merely curious must go to the extremes. This voyage has taken us from the fjords of South America to the alpine glaciers of South Georgia and on to the subtropical waters of the Tristan da Cunha group; the most isolated inhabited archipelago in the world.
At each of our stops on this expedition the kelp forests have been present. Whether seen from the ship as she made her way into shallow water, in South Georgia where the furry pups use it as their playground and at Nightingale Island, which is the northerly and easterly extent of the kelp in the Atlantic Ocean. Kelp is the largest algae in the world and a very important indicator of the health of the oceans. It is a seasonal “plant” that provides food for certain invertebrates such as sea urchins and other animals including kelp gulls. It is also a good protective home for other forms of life. Larval fish dart in and out of the frawns and stalks as protection from larger fish like the soldier fish.
Diving in the kelp can be a challenge given that it is moving back and forth and can get wrapped up in dive gear, but the reward is amazing images of a unique ecosystem that we have travelled the breadth of during this expedition along the South Atlantic Ocean from Cape to Cape.
