Things reached a point in the 1970s when some people thought it might be too late for blues. American science writer George Small calculated then that there were perhaps 100 left in the world - probably not enough to reproduce. The picture is brighter now. WE ARE flying over waters where Gill last month saw 31 blues in one day. As we scan the surface from 1,500 feet, krill swarms appear as pinky-brown blotches.
Dolphins dash and splash.
Gannet and occasionally albatross skim the surface, looking for lift. All are good signs for whale spotters. They shouldn't be hard to see. The largest blue whale measured was 32.6 metres long, and probably weighed around 160 to 180 tonnes. It was a female, taken at the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica in 1926.