this is "nightline." >> tonight, the epic journey to the end of the effort. antarctica, ground zero for cliemd change. what researchers are discovering in a seemingly pristine landscape. sounding the alarm as their discoveries reveal a stark reality for us all. plus deep dive. racing against time to drag and tag elusive lump tag whales. scientists documenting the gentle giants. what their health can tell us about the world's oceans. "nightline" will be right back.

>> this special edition of "nightline," journey of the edge, continues here now james longman. >> antarctica. the mythical white continent. a daunting landscape seemingly out of this world. >> it's the closest thing to being in another planet. >> where breathtaking wildlife is struggling with a new threat, climate change. >> hump back off the rn to the

legendary place once thought out of man's reach. now struggling to cope with the human altered climate. the scientists in a race against time to protect the seas. >> we have 12 years to really fight the impacts of climate change and we have to act now. >> the shocking con stam nants they're discovering inside the whales. >> things like microplastics. >> and what the wildlife at the edge of the world can tell us about all our futures. just getting to antarctica takes time and patience. we arrive in argentina. the sleepy port town nestled at the foot of the southern andi's. it's from here we set sail. >> this is called the town at the end of the world. we're going further south. we've been invited aboard a ship

to travel to antarctica. ground zero for climate change. after two days crossing the drake passage we navigate what the waters of the antarctic peninsula. >> good morning. it's sunday morning. welcome to antarctica. >> but this frigid landscape can be deceptive. across the peninsula the ice season has shortened by morn three month over the last 40 years, and 8 7% of the of the oe here are receding. this allows people to come face to face to climate change, seeing science in action. we link up with a nature enthusia enthusiast, monica parker who traveled to antarctica to celebrate her 40th birthday. it's zero degrees in there. how are you feeling?

>> nervous. i want to stay in the boat. >> we all want to stay in the boat. antarctica is extreme and unpredictable weather. as we near the shore, it begins to snow. >> there we go. >> all right. we made it. we've landed on antarctica. >> this is awesome. it's cold, but it's awesome. >> i kind of wish it wasn't snowing. >> yeah. >> for now it may be best to leave the elements to the seals and marine biologists. across the bay a team of researchers are scanning the horizon searching for whales. >> today we're going to look for mostly hump back whales, maybe others. we want to be able to biopsy and fly our drone over them to look at body condition and size. right there. that's up. >> i see.

>> these marine biologists have come from all over the united states to antarctica to study the pressures facing the hump back and minke whale populationu the biopsies are taken using a cross bow. >> it will penetrate into the animal and get skin and blubber. we've been sampling since late november. getting the body condition and sex ratio of animals around here now is really important. >> it's summer in the antarctic. prime feeding season for hump back whales who spend months loading up on kril before heading to the tropics to mate and give birth. >> the arrow makes contact. researchers assuring us it doesn't hurt the mammal. the researchers collect a few more samples. >> southwest is the direction that we want to be basically going. >> after spending several hours

in the biting cold, they head back to the ship. >> great job, team. way to hit it hard with the elements. >> but their day is not over yet. >> we're going to go into the lab. we can process the samples. so this first sample we took for a pollutants analysis. this sample can't go in one of the plastic baggies. we're looking for plastic contaminan contaminants. >> it reveals plastics, heavy metals and flame retardants have made their way into whale's bodies. the ten dridrils of man stretch over here to antarctica. >> this is a sample that's all you need for the molecule and hormone work. that's a good sample. you can see the distinct layer between the skin and the blubber itself. now they go in the freezer and get carried back to california. >> and their research is already yielding results.

a recent report by the wwf highlights whales in the antarctic are facing increased pressures due to climate change. >> we're racing against the clock to generate a baseline for how the animals behave. they are already compromised in a big way and the e come system is. we need to be down here doing this right now. >> for people at home they'll be thinking whales are important. we love whales. they're beautiful to look at. it's important they remain on this earth. but how does it affect me at home? >> they represent the health of an ocean eco system. to be able to have enough food to support a whale, let alone a population of whales and as citizens of the planet regardless of where you live, we have an obligation to let things be. >> a landmark report released by the u.n. revealed that humans are already altering the world at an unprecedented pace. over 1 million plants and animal

species are at risk of extinction. here in the peninsula many penguin populations are on the decline. the loss of sea ice is affecting their primary food source yrngs and the researchers are using the latest technologies available from satellite tags and drones to determine how declining kril is affecting the whale population. the next day we get to see all of that technology in action. >> let's do it. got it. >> the team from duke university's marine robotics lab launches their state of the art scientific drone. hoping to study hump back whales from the air, the team takes us to paradise bay with the weather finally clearing up, this remote cove lives up to it name. within minutes trained eyes find

what they're after. >> humpback off the bow. about three quarters of a mile. there you can see the animal there. >> just out over here. so about 1:00 off the boat. you can see a little black line. >> on the surface of the water. >> i can't believe you saw that. >> with eyes in the sky, the researchers move in for a better look. >> oh, super bendy. they're moving their tail around. it's like they're flirting or something. >> this one of a kind technology designed to withstand brutal conditions provides the team with invaluable insight into the lives of these mysterious creatures. >> the pictures we can measure them. >> so far the numbers are encouraging unlike most whale species humpback populations are on the rise. >> one of the primary things i'm

interested in is look at the recovery of the animals. >> once hunted to near extinction, the populations have rebounded thanks to a moratorium on commercial whaling. >> since 2014, 86% of our females were pregnant. that's incredibly high. >> the humpback is doing really well at the moment? >> yeah. they're going like gang busters far we can tell. >> the team sets out one of the most crucial technologies. tagging the giants with a tracking device. >> the guy in front of us looks good. >> why is the tagging important? >> the animal sends such little time at the surface. studying the animal and the surface behavior only a tine tiny insight.an get more of an insight into what the animals are doing the other

90% they're under the water. >> they inch closer to the giants. the idea is to get to the whale before it wakes up and dives away. but the humpbacks are too elusiv elusive. diving beneath the surface each time the tagging team gets just within range. >> this is not easy work. we still haven't managed to tag any of the whales. approaching really slowly and the last second they dip down under water. it goes to show the painstaking work the scientists have to do. when we come back, time is running out. the scientists get one last chance to tag the whales and a close encounter at the end of the earth. mpic®! ♪ (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it.

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the clouds break away. it's morning in antarctica. one of the most breathe taking places on the planet. we've been following a group of researchers on their mission to document the plight of the whale population in the region. and today is their last chance. as winter draws near, and the waters will soon turn to ice. >> we're going to head over that direction where there was some calm water and hopefully some snoozy whales. >> we have sleeping whales up there. can we get the tag pole ready?

>> this is the whole point of this mission, to get as close as possible to the whales and tag them with these gps systems that can tell us so much more about their behavior. the drone team places their camera in the sky. as we inch closer to a group of sleeping humpbacks, they're startled by our boat. in a rare display, one begins breaching. unable to tag this group of whales, the biologists move on. >> that was exciting. not very useful for science, but awesome. awesome to see. >> soon they spot another pod. they're met with >> oh.

anything different to do here? >> tagging is critical to their research and this bay is one ari has returned to many times throughout the years. >> we ended up matching a food patch that measured over 2 million tons and we found over 500 humpbacks in here at the same time. it tells us the critical places for animals and if we need to set up marine protected areas to keep out commercial fishing, we know where the places are every year. >> a lot has been made about kril and how as the kind of bedrock of their eco system, there could be possibly an issue going forward. can you explain why that is? >> there's an impi mat relationship with krill predators and sea ice down here. in the long time krill populations are going to decl e decline. the other animals that feel that is the animals that require a massive amount of food. >> the tag is ready and they

move forward once >> will stay on capturing data for the researchers equipped with a camera. it provides them with a whale's eye view of the world. >> so success. we live. there it is. the wheal woken up, eat. the krill moves past the camera. >> we're combining the data and get a really good picture of the ecology of whales in the area. >> chris johnson has been instrumental in taking the research data and turning it into policy. their goal is to protect 30% of the ocean's surrounding antarctica by 2030. >> time is of the essence.

recent research said we have 12 years to fight the impacts of climate change. >> it's hard to imagine this continent could one day look drastically different, placing some of the world's most beloved animals in danger. in my work as a news reporter, we're often presenting issues of life or death, but being here and learning about the science, you get the sense this really is life or death for all of us. during the height of the cold war, the antarctic treaty was signed designated the continent as a natural reserve for peace and science. since then it's been a place where we come to determine the health of the world. we head to the ukrainian research station to see one of the places where earth science is recorded. as we head inside, we learn this place has even more significance than we thought.

right up there in 1985 buzz one of the places that scientists discovered the hole in the ozone layer. it's a pretty special place. it's an issue that "nightline" shed light on in 1992 becoming the first to ever broadcast live in antarctica. >> scientists stay ozone hole over the area, a thinning of the ozone layer is now the largest ever recorded. >> reporter: since then the hole in the ozone has recovered and is on its way to healing completely. >> it is one of the biggest success stories that we have for nature. i'm hopeful we can fight climate change both here and at home. >> and that ambition is one that unites scientists and expedition leaders alike. >> what are you hoping people take home with them from a trip like this? >> they realize the only change we can do is at home. >> we check in with monica to see how it changed her outlook. when you hear the debate at home

about climate change and global warming, what has this trip done to inform you about that? >> it's opened my eyes. i think about recycling at home, but seeing the ice formations and the melting patterns and the refreezing patterns, it's really brought home just all the other things that go about with climate change. >> you mean all the stuff you can do back home that might make a difference here? >> exactly. >> making a difference to this place from thousands of miles away might seem impossible, but the recovery of the humpback whale is testimony to what can be done to save our planet wherever we are. >> up next, the billionaire commencement speaker paying it forward by paying it off. woman 1: this... woman 2: ...this... man 1: ...this is my body of proof. man 2: proof of less joint pain... woman 3: ...and clearer skin.

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