All of Thursday and half of Friday is spent in the Drake Passage, which is known to be the roughest waters in the world. We are very lucky and we have a relatively mild crossing, but there is good reason for the furniture to be tied down.
The days are filled with presentations by the naturalists and photographers on staff. Some of the talks are entertaining, others are more academic, but all are informative.
There are birds (mostly Cape Petrals and Wandering Albatross) that follow in our wake, but otherwise all we see is sea.
Icebergs begin their appearance on Friday. Our first sighting of an iceberg is at 64 degrees 21 minutes South, 68 degrees 33 minutes West. Some are huge masses with flat tops (called tabular ice), while others have been sculpted by the wind and sea into interesting art forms. The icebergs that are blue ice captivate. We learn in one of the Naturalist talks that blue ice contains very little air... the air has been compressed out of the snow over many, many years.
The days are filled with presentations by the naturalists and photographers on staff. Some of the talks are entertaining, others are more academic, but all are informative.
There are birds (mostly Cape Petrals and Wandering Albatross) that follow in our wake, but otherwise all we see is sea.
Icebergs begin their appearance on Friday. Our first sighting of an iceberg is at 64 degrees 21 minutes South, 68 degrees 33 minutes West. Some are huge masses with flat tops (called tabular ice), while others have been sculpted by the wind and sea into interesting art forms. The icebergs that are blue ice captivate. We learn in one of the Naturalist talks that blue ice contains very little air... the air has been compressed out of the snow over many, many years.
On both days we see the spouts of whales. However the animals are too far in the distance to capture in photographs.
On Friday evening around 11 pm we pass 60 degrees South and enter into the Antarctic circle. Our destination is Marguerite Bay on the Antarctic continent. This location is not frequently visited over the past few years. Most ships stop north of the Antarctic circle, and in fact our ship (the Explorer) hasn't been to Margarita Bay for five years). Sunset this evening is 11:20pm.
On Friday evening around 11 pm we pass 60 degrees South and enter into the Antarctic circle. Our destination is Marguerite Bay on the Antarctic continent. This location is not frequently visited over the past few years. Most ships stop north of the Antarctic circle, and in fact our ship (the Explorer) hasn't been to Margarita Bay for five years). Sunset this evening is 11:20pm.
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