The Drake Passage
After our departure from Ushuaia yesterday, we spent the day at sea heading south at-sea in the Drake Passage, the expanse of the Southern Ocean between South America and Antarctica. The 600 nautical miles of ocean that separate these two continents contain significant boundaries that need to be crossed to arrive in Antarctica. First we entered the oceanographic and biogeographic realm of Antarctica as the sea-water temperature dropped from 6º Celsius to 3º Celsius as we crossed the Antarctic Convergence. Later in the evening we entered the geopolitical realm of Antarctica as we crossed latitude 60º South.
Our Drake Passage has been a relatively benign affair, with light winds and small seas. Observers on the bridge maintained a vigil searching for seabirds and marine mammals. We were rewarded with views of albatrosses including the bird with the largest wingspan of all; the wandering albatross.
Late in the afternoon a distant whale blow was spotted and the Captain maneuvered the ship for a closer look. The whale proved to be a sei whale, a large baleen whale accompanied by three hourglass dolphins. The dolphins were distinctly following the movement of the whale, ignoring the opportunity to bow-ride on our vessel in favour of riding the pressure wave ahead of this leviathan. These dolphins demonstrated how their ancestors must have been bow-riding on large whales long before any ships crossed the oceans.
After our departure from Ushuaia yesterday, we spent the day at sea heading south at-sea in the Drake Passage, the expanse of the Southern Ocean between South America and Antarctica. The 600 nautical miles of ocean that separate these two continents contain significant boundaries that need to be crossed to arrive in Antarctica. First we entered the oceanographic and biogeographic realm of Antarctica as the sea-water temperature dropped from 6º Celsius to 3º Celsius as we crossed the Antarctic Convergence. Later in the evening we entered the geopolitical realm of Antarctica as we crossed latitude 60º South.
Our Drake Passage has been a relatively benign affair, with light winds and small seas. Observers on the bridge maintained a vigil searching for seabirds and marine mammals. We were rewarded with views of albatrosses including the bird with the largest wingspan of all; the wandering albatross.
Late in the afternoon a distant whale blow was spotted and the Captain maneuvered the ship for a closer look. The whale proved to be a sei whale, a large baleen whale accompanied by three hourglass dolphins. The dolphins were distinctly following the movement of the whale, ignoring the opportunity to bow-ride on our vessel in favour of riding the pressure wave ahead of this leviathan. These dolphins demonstrated how their ancestors must have been bow-riding on large whales long before any ships crossed the oceans.