Drake Passage
Yesterday we left the Great White Continent behind us as we sailed in to the Drake Passage on our way back to Argentina. It was later in the evening that we became aware of a gentle rocking - for many of us this was rather comforting and the motion helped lull us to sleep. Our first activity of the day was a presentation by Bess Ward of Princeton University. She talked about the mysteries of a dysfunctional nitrogen cycle in Antarctica’s Lake Bonney. This was followed by another excellent presentation on Sir Ernest Shackleton by Steve MacLean. It was during lunch that the Drake began to live up to its reputation and became slightly more ‘lumpy.’ This meant we had the perfect excuse for a nap. Later in the afternoon, we joined Tom Smith for his fascinating talk about his experiences when researching polar marine mammals. Some of us spent time on the bridge marveling at the beauty and grace of the many seabirds as they wheeled about the ship. They are so perfectly well adapted to life in a lively Drake whereas we spent the day stumbling about quite clumsily.
Yesterday we left the Great White Continent behind us as we sailed in to the Drake Passage on our way back to Argentina. It was later in the evening that we became aware of a gentle rocking - for many of us this was rather comforting and the motion helped lull us to sleep. Our first activity of the day was a presentation by Bess Ward of Princeton University. She talked about the mysteries of a dysfunctional nitrogen cycle in Antarctica’s Lake Bonney. This was followed by another excellent presentation on Sir Ernest Shackleton by Steve MacLean. It was during lunch that the Drake began to live up to its reputation and became slightly more ‘lumpy.’ This meant we had the perfect excuse for a nap. Later in the afternoon, we joined Tom Smith for his fascinating talk about his experiences when researching polar marine mammals. Some of us spent time on the bridge marveling at the beauty and grace of the many seabirds as they wheeled about the ship. They are so perfectly well adapted to life in a lively Drake whereas we spent the day stumbling about quite clumsily.
