Drake Passage
As we start the year of 2008, we are awakened to stark contrasts from just a few hours ago. Left behind was the smooth, calm, icy Dallmann Bay, surrounded by jagged mountains, and filled with ice floes and resting seals. With the midnight sun piercing the mountains and laying a golden streak onto the sea ice, last night was the perfect setting to say goodbye to both 2007 and our time in Antarctica. The traditional ringing of the ship’s bell at midnight by the youngest and by the wisest of the ship’s passengers was a unique and memorable way to see in 2008 for us. However, we were awakened this morning with a reminder of the price we pay to visit such an other-worldly paradise, the return crossing of the Drake Passage. Gratefully, the price today was not as severe as the one we paid in coming to Antarctica. As we make our way back to Cape Horn, we are joined by old friends, the various petrels, albatrosses, and other tubenoses, gliding effortlessly along side the ship.
This afternoon, we also said goodbye to the last vestiges of Antarctica, when we once again crossed the zone of the Antarctic Convergence. Not only did we leave behind the colder Southern Ocean waters and air for the warmer South Atlantic seas (with a temperature rise from 2.5 degrees to 6 degrees C), but we also left behind the unique and abundant marine life of the Southern Ocean. So drastic is the change across this zone, that islands of the same latitude, South Georgia which is south of the Convergence, and Cape Horn which is north of the Convergence, have completely different climates, flora, and fauna. The snowline of South Georgia is in fact lower than the tree line of Tierra del Fuego.
The crossing is also a unique opportunity to reflect on all we have seen and experienced, to edit and organize our photos, or to catch up in our journals. Indeed it is a time many of us need to transition away from our time on the ice. Christmas of 2007 and the New Year of 2008 will be fondly remembered by us all forever!
As we start the year of 2008, we are awakened to stark contrasts from just a few hours ago. Left behind was the smooth, calm, icy Dallmann Bay, surrounded by jagged mountains, and filled with ice floes and resting seals. With the midnight sun piercing the mountains and laying a golden streak onto the sea ice, last night was the perfect setting to say goodbye to both 2007 and our time in Antarctica. The traditional ringing of the ship’s bell at midnight by the youngest and by the wisest of the ship’s passengers was a unique and memorable way to see in 2008 for us. However, we were awakened this morning with a reminder of the price we pay to visit such an other-worldly paradise, the return crossing of the Drake Passage. Gratefully, the price today was not as severe as the one we paid in coming to Antarctica. As we make our way back to Cape Horn, we are joined by old friends, the various petrels, albatrosses, and other tubenoses, gliding effortlessly along side the ship.
This afternoon, we also said goodbye to the last vestiges of Antarctica, when we once again crossed the zone of the Antarctic Convergence. Not only did we leave behind the colder Southern Ocean waters and air for the warmer South Atlantic seas (with a temperature rise from 2.5 degrees to 6 degrees C), but we also left behind the unique and abundant marine life of the Southern Ocean. So drastic is the change across this zone, that islands of the same latitude, South Georgia which is south of the Convergence, and Cape Horn which is north of the Convergence, have completely different climates, flora, and fauna. The snowline of South Georgia is in fact lower than the tree line of Tierra del Fuego.
The crossing is also a unique opportunity to reflect on all we have seen and experienced, to edit and organize our photos, or to catch up in our journals. Indeed it is a time many of us need to transition away from our time on the ice. Christmas of 2007 and the New Year of 2008 will be fondly remembered by us all forever!
