A fluke discovery

Against the pin-drop silence of the Antarctic landscape – as you bob gently on the water, engine off – a humpback whale glides alongside the boat and takes a breath. “This blow becomes the loudest thing you've ever heard, right there in that silence,” says Ted Cheeseman. “It's incomparable. It's really beautiful".

Cheeseman, the co-founder of Happywhale, has had countless wonderful whale watching encounters. He moved into marine conservation after working in eco-tourism for 30 years because he realised that people’s holiday photos not only capture moments they will treasure forever. They can also contribute to scientific discovery.