At Sea
Endeavour has now turned her bow north, gently rolling through the Drake Passage to our final destination, Ushuaia, Argentina. We are followed by a host of birds, soaring elegantly above and around the ship, making us all envious of their grace and beauty, as they seemingly taunt us, “why don’t you join us” while gliding by. Our winged companions include birds of all sizes, starting with the petit pintato petrel, building in massiveness to the largest of all sea birds, the wandering albatross.
After the activities of the past eleven days, these days at sea allow us to reflect and really take in the amazing experiences we have had. Each of us went down to Antarctica for a different reason: to see those amazing penguins that look so awkward on land, but fly at lightening speeds through the water; for the gigantic ice that makes Antarctica so famous, some of the tabular icebergs being as large as Long Island; or perhaps for the rich history, both natural and historical, that Antarctica possesses.
Part of the natural history that Lindblad Expeditions finds so important is the Undersea Realm. The Antarctic marine world is largely untouched and unexplored. On Endeavour we have equipment that allows us to take a closer look at this fascinating ecosystem. One of the favorite pieces to use is the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), affectionately know as “Rovvie” onboard. The ROV, operated by Undersea Specialist Dennis Cornejo, and controlled by joystick on the surface, can travel well below diving depths to 500 feet. Here some of the most interesting creatures can be found: strange transparent fish, who aside from the lights from the ROV, probably have never seen the light of day; strangely shaped sponges who filter the enriched waters of the Antarctic; four inch transparent octopus and jumping sea cucumbers.
Pictured here is a sunstar, or multi-armed seastar, which can have as many as 40 arms. Seastars are a very diverse group here in the Antarctic. Some are voracious predators, eating mollusks by the dozens, using their arms to pry open the mollusk, and then inverting their stomach inside the shell to digest its contents. Others are filter feeders, catching the tiny phytoplankton floating in the water column, working the particles down the arms to the mouth opening. And still others will eat just about anything, including sponges and other sea stars! This sunstar is a voracious predator, eating sponge-encrusted scallops, krill, and salps.
Antarctica has so much to offer, both above and below the water’s surface. We have been fortunate to enough to sample just a tidbit of the vastness of the “last wilderness.”
Endeavour has now turned her bow north, gently rolling through the Drake Passage to our final destination, Ushuaia, Argentina. We are followed by a host of birds, soaring elegantly above and around the ship, making us all envious of their grace and beauty, as they seemingly taunt us, “why don’t you join us” while gliding by. Our winged companions include birds of all sizes, starting with the petit pintato petrel, building in massiveness to the largest of all sea birds, the wandering albatross.
After the activities of the past eleven days, these days at sea allow us to reflect and really take in the amazing experiences we have had. Each of us went down to Antarctica for a different reason: to see those amazing penguins that look so awkward on land, but fly at lightening speeds through the water; for the gigantic ice that makes Antarctica so famous, some of the tabular icebergs being as large as Long Island; or perhaps for the rich history, both natural and historical, that Antarctica possesses.
Part of the natural history that Lindblad Expeditions finds so important is the Undersea Realm. The Antarctic marine world is largely untouched and unexplored. On Endeavour we have equipment that allows us to take a closer look at this fascinating ecosystem. One of the favorite pieces to use is the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), affectionately know as “Rovvie” onboard. The ROV, operated by Undersea Specialist Dennis Cornejo, and controlled by joystick on the surface, can travel well below diving depths to 500 feet. Here some of the most interesting creatures can be found: strange transparent fish, who aside from the lights from the ROV, probably have never seen the light of day; strangely shaped sponges who filter the enriched waters of the Antarctic; four inch transparent octopus and jumping sea cucumbers.
Pictured here is a sunstar, or multi-armed seastar, which can have as many as 40 arms. Seastars are a very diverse group here in the Antarctic. Some are voracious predators, eating mollusks by the dozens, using their arms to pry open the mollusk, and then inverting their stomach inside the shell to digest its contents. Others are filter feeders, catching the tiny phytoplankton floating in the water column, working the particles down the arms to the mouth opening. And still others will eat just about anything, including sponges and other sea stars! This sunstar is a voracious predator, eating sponge-encrusted scallops, krill, and salps.
Antarctica has so much to offer, both above and below the water’s surface. We have been fortunate to enough to sample just a tidbit of the vastness of the “last wilderness.”
