Drake Passage
Endeavour now makes her way North, heading back to Ushuaia, Argentina, which some might say is the bottom of the world. However we have truly been as close to the bottom of the world as this vessel can get. We have spent an amazing 11 days in Antarctica, experiencing much of what the white continent has to offer: we walked on the fast ice; we kayaked amongst the ice bergs; we watched countless penguins and blue eyed shags. We have been surrounded by whales, and have crossed the Antarctic Circle. Antarctica is a wondrous place full of new adventures and experiences none will soon forget.
Below the water, Antarctica is a place where the weird and the wonderful collide. The creatures found here have been some of the least studied creatures of the undersea world. Onboard Endeavour, our Undersea Specialist, Dennis Cornejo, and myself as operations assistant, have a wide array of tools to look down in the depths, and film, bringing the pictures back for the guests onboard, in the warmth and comfort of the ships lounge. We have an ROV or Remote Operated Vehicle, which can go far below diving depths, almost to 500 feet, to see what lives in the cold darkness. We also have a splash camera, for capturing those creatures, such as whales and seals, just below the surface. SCUBA diving is a large part of the undersea operations, and having Endeavour as a platform to explore both above and below the water is a great advantage as she travels around the Antarctic Peninsula.
Pictured here is a Sea Spider found at Prospect Point. Although sea spiders are found all over the world, in the Polar Regions they tend to have a form of gigantism, some species having a leg span of 40 cm. Here in Antarctica, sea spiders are found from 9 meters – 3200 meters. They eat soft bodied creatures, sucking the juices, and browse on hydroids and bryozoans. However some can also be commensal or ectoparasitic on other invertebrates. Sea spiders are all “guts and gonads,” and almost all of it is stuck down the legs. They use these legs for traveling in a variety of manners, not only walking along the bottom, but some species for swimming, alternating the legs up and down. Sea Spiders have a smaller set of legs, the ovigerous legs, which are used for grooming and carrying the egg masses (you can see these eggs masses in this picture). Interestingly, it is the male that carries the eggs, and broods them until they hatch.
Whether it is above or below the water’s surface, Antarctica is a place of many delights and surprises. We are all lucky to have experienced a little of the multitude of diversity the continent holds.
Endeavour now makes her way North, heading back to Ushuaia, Argentina, which some might say is the bottom of the world. However we have truly been as close to the bottom of the world as this vessel can get. We have spent an amazing 11 days in Antarctica, experiencing much of what the white continent has to offer: we walked on the fast ice; we kayaked amongst the ice bergs; we watched countless penguins and blue eyed shags. We have been surrounded by whales, and have crossed the Antarctic Circle. Antarctica is a wondrous place full of new adventures and experiences none will soon forget.
Below the water, Antarctica is a place where the weird and the wonderful collide. The creatures found here have been some of the least studied creatures of the undersea world. Onboard Endeavour, our Undersea Specialist, Dennis Cornejo, and myself as operations assistant, have a wide array of tools to look down in the depths, and film, bringing the pictures back for the guests onboard, in the warmth and comfort of the ships lounge. We have an ROV or Remote Operated Vehicle, which can go far below diving depths, almost to 500 feet, to see what lives in the cold darkness. We also have a splash camera, for capturing those creatures, such as whales and seals, just below the surface. SCUBA diving is a large part of the undersea operations, and having Endeavour as a platform to explore both above and below the water is a great advantage as she travels around the Antarctic Peninsula.
Pictured here is a Sea Spider found at Prospect Point. Although sea spiders are found all over the world, in the Polar Regions they tend to have a form of gigantism, some species having a leg span of 40 cm. Here in Antarctica, sea spiders are found from 9 meters – 3200 meters. They eat soft bodied creatures, sucking the juices, and browse on hydroids and bryozoans. However some can also be commensal or ectoparasitic on other invertebrates. Sea spiders are all “guts and gonads,” and almost all of it is stuck down the legs. They use these legs for traveling in a variety of manners, not only walking along the bottom, but some species for swimming, alternating the legs up and down. Sea Spiders have a smaller set of legs, the ovigerous legs, which are used for grooming and carrying the egg masses (you can see these eggs masses in this picture). Interestingly, it is the male that carries the eggs, and broods them until they hatch.
Whether it is above or below the water’s surface, Antarctica is a place of many delights and surprises. We are all lucky to have experienced a little of the multitude of diversity the continent holds.
