An individual Antarctic blue whale is re-sighted at South Georgia
An Antarctic blue whale photographed in 2019 and nicknamed Magrathea is re-sighted during a 2026 survey conducted from a passenger vessel, matched through a shared photo-identification platform with contributions from non-specialist observers. A single re-sighting carries disproportionate weight for a subspecies whose entire abundance estimate rests on a catalogue of a few hundred individuals - which is also a statement about how thin the data still is.
Observed — measured or witnessed, with the observation cited.
Subjects
- Antarctic Blue Whale (B. m. intermedia) · species · Southern Ocean and adjacent temperate South Atlantic, Indian and Pacific sectors · not located
- South Georgia · region · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK overseas territory)
- Photo-Identification Cataloguing · process · Applied wherever blue whales are surveyed · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Re-sighting of the Antarctic blue whale "Magrathea" at South Georgia
An Antarctic blue whale first photographed in 2019 and nicknamed Magrathea was re-sighted in 2026 during an ORCA survey conducted from a passenger vessel, matched through a shared photo-identification platform with contributions from non-specialist observers. V55 verification basis: this is an NGO field report retrieved in search summary, not a peer-reviewed record; it should be treated as a reported observation pending publication.
ORCA (marine conservation charity), reporting a 2026 survey · 2026 · Partly verified
https://orca.org.uk/news-blog/a-blue-whale-called-magrathea-has-just-rewritten-south-georgias-story
Recorded on Antarctic Blue Whale (B. m. intermedia)
- Whaling begins at Grytviken, South Georgia
- The Antarctic blue whale catch reaches its all-time peak
- The heaviest blue whale on record is weighed
- Soviet fleets take protected whales and file false returns
- Whaling ends at South Georgia
- The IWC protects blue whales from commercial hunting
- The commercial whaling moratorium takes effect
- Dedicated Antarctic Blue Whale Project voyages
- Blue whales are found back at South Georgia
- The only published Antarctic blue whale satellite tracks are released as data
- A capture-recapture abundance estimate for Antarctic blue whales is published
- An individual Antarctic blue whale is re-sighted at South Georgia
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- A capture-recapture abundance estimate for Antarctic blue whales is published · 2025
- The only published Antarctic blue whale satellite tracks are released as data · 2023
- Blue whales are found back at South Georgia · 2020-02
- Dedicated Antarctic Blue Whale Project voyages · 2013, 2015, 2019
- The commercial whaling moratorium takes effect · 1986 (coastal); 1985/86 pelagic season
- The IWC protects blue whales from commercial hunting · 1966
- Whaling ends at South Georgia · 1965 (Grytviken); island operations described as running to 1971
- Soviet fleets take protected whales and file false returns · 1948-1970s