In the Southern Ocean, where industrial whalers killed more than 2 million whales during the 20th century, something remarkable is happening. Whale populations are coming back. Humpback whales have recovered fastest since commercial whaling was banned in 1986, with numbers approaching pre-whaling levels. And in early 2026 C.E., scientists aboard a research vessel near the South Orkney Islands recorded multiple groups of more than 100 whales feeding together — scenes that researchers described as “breathtaking,” matching accounts written by the first polar explorers more than a century ago.
At a glance
- Antarctic whale recovery: Humpback whale populations are now near pre-whaling levels, with daily sightings of super-aggregations of 100 or more whales reported near the South Orkney Islands in early 2026 C.E.
- Krill trawlers: Industrial fishing vessels weighing up to 3,000 metric tonnes are operating in the same feeding grounds as whales, removing krill — the foundation of the Antarctic food web — from the ecosystem entirely.
- Buffer zone proposal: Researchers Dr. Matt Savoca of Stanford University and Ted Cheeseman of Happy Whale are calling for a 30-kilometer no-fishing zone around the South Orkneys to protect both whales and krill stocks.
The science behind the comeback
The survey was conducted by scientists hosted aboard the Allankay, a 55-meter vessel operated by Sea Shepherd, the conservation nonprofit. Using line-transect surveys, drone-based measurements, and acoustic monitoring, the team documented whale densities that may be among the highest anywhere on the planet.
Dr. Matt Savoca, of Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, described seeing blows “stretch from horizon to horizon” on clear days. “The fact that groups this size are common here is what’s most remarkable,” he said. Fellow researcher Ted Cheeseman, co-founder of Happy Whale, called the numbers “really exciting” — noting that nothing comparable had been recorded in the area since 2022 C.E., when Scottish scientist Conor Ryan captured footage of what is believed to be the largest single aggregation of whales ever recorded: roughly 1,000 animals.
Blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, have recovered more slowly than humpbacks. But scientists say the overall trajectory across multiple species is genuinely positive — a direct result of the 1986 C.E. International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling.
A new threat in the same waters
The same feeding grounds that are sustaining whale recovery are now drawing a fast-growing industrial krill fishing fleet. Antarctic krill — small, shrimp-like crustaceans — are the cornerstone of the Southern Ocean food web. Whales, penguins, and seals all depend on them. Industrial trawlers grind the krill into supplements, pet food, and fish-farm feed, removing those nutrients from the ocean system entirely.
Cheeseman puts the problem plainly. “When a whale eats krill, it poops out krill,” he said. “There’s a nutrient recycling happening. But when you take out whales, the krill reduces.” The industrial trawlers break that cycle. And at up to 3,000 metric tonnes, they are, as Cheeseman notes, roughly 100 times the size of a humpback whale — an outsized competitor in a fragile ecosystem.
The diplomatic body responsible for protecting these waters, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), has hit a stalemate. In both 2024 C.E. and 2025 C.E., member nations — including China and Russia — blocked renewal of conservation agreements that restrict krill fishing in sensitive areas. That deadlock has left the Southern Ocean without enforceable protections in key feeding zones, even as some scientists warn that climate change is already stressing krill populations independently of fishing pressure.
What researchers are proposing
Savoca and Cheeseman are pushing for a practical workaround. They want a 30-kilometer buffer zone around the South Orkney Islands where krill fishing would be off-limits. It’s not a new idea in principle — krill fishing companies have already accepted voluntary 30-kilometer buffers around penguin colonies. Extending that logic to whale feeding grounds, the researchers argue, is both scientifically justified and achievable without waiting for CCAMLR consensus.
“There is an incredible opportunity for conservation through collaboration,” Savoca said. “The NGOs, scientists, and the fishing industry can come together and succeed where CCAMLR has failed.”
The IUCN Red List still classifies several whale species as endangered or vulnerable, and the full recovery of blue whales in particular remains a long-term project. The krill fishing industry is also expanding, not contracting — the volume harvested in the Southern Ocean has grown steadily, and without binding international rules, voluntary measures can only go so far.
Why the whales matter beyond themselves
The return of large whale populations is not just a conservation win in isolation. Research published in Nature Communications has shown that whales play a measurable role in ocean carbon cycling — their feeding, movement, and waste redistribute nutrients across vast distances, supporting phytoplankton growth that in turn absorbs atmospheric carbon. A recovering whale population is, in a real sense, a recovering ocean.
The Southern Ocean also remains one of the most carbon-rich marine environments on Earth. Studies in Science have documented its role as a major global carbon sink — which makes the health of its food web a matter that extends far beyond Antarctica’s shores.
That the whales are returning at all is evidence that human decisions can reverse ecological damage at scale. The 1986 C.E. whaling moratorium is one of the clearest examples in modern environmental history of international cooperation producing measurable results within decades. The question now is whether that same cooperative spirit can be found again — this time, around krill.
Read more
For more on this story, see: The Guardian
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Indigenous land rights: 160 million hectares recognized ahead of COP30
- U.K. cancer death rates fall to their lowest level on record
- The Good News for Humankind archive on marine conservation
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