South Atlantic
During the night we crossed the Antarctic Convergence as we headed ever eastward toward South Georgia. During the morning we enjoyed two presentations about the Indians of Tierra Del Fuego, and some of their early contacts with Europeans, including Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle, as well as, some of the early missionaries who established the first settlements in the area of what is today Ushuaia.
Just before lunch we began to see large numbers of icebergs dotting the ocean. All of them originated in the Antarctic and were heading into northern climes as they slowly disintegrated. They occurred in fantastic shapes and sizes including one enormous tabular berg featured in today’s web photo. It was about a mile long and probably well over a hundred and thirty five feet above the ocean surface. The Captain brought us in close for an exceptional view. All afternoon these magnificent ice sculptures were in sight as we cruised along.
In the afternoon we passed very close to a group of rocks arising above an underwater seamount known as the Shag Rocks. Numerous blue-eyed shags, a type of cormorant, covered the rocky crags. A humpback whale and a few minke whales were also spotted in the area giving some indication of the richness of the waters above the seamount. Enormous numbers of sea birds wheeled and circled around the rocks in this wonderfully productive area.
During the night we crossed the Antarctic Convergence as we headed ever eastward toward South Georgia. During the morning we enjoyed two presentations about the Indians of Tierra Del Fuego, and some of their early contacts with Europeans, including Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle, as well as, some of the early missionaries who established the first settlements in the area of what is today Ushuaia.
Just before lunch we began to see large numbers of icebergs dotting the ocean. All of them originated in the Antarctic and were heading into northern climes as they slowly disintegrated. They occurred in fantastic shapes and sizes including one enormous tabular berg featured in today’s web photo. It was about a mile long and probably well over a hundred and thirty five feet above the ocean surface. The Captain brought us in close for an exceptional view. All afternoon these magnificent ice sculptures were in sight as we cruised along.
In the afternoon we passed very close to a group of rocks arising above an underwater seamount known as the Shag Rocks. Numerous blue-eyed shags, a type of cormorant, covered the rocky crags. A humpback whale and a few minke whales were also spotted in the area giving some indication of the richness of the waters above the seamount. Enormous numbers of sea birds wheeled and circled around the rocks in this wonderfully productive area.
