At Sea, heading towards Tristan da Cunha
Yesterday afternoon was our very last day at South Georgia. As we woke up in the early morning today, the ship was steaming northeast with a course set at 45o for our goal of Tristan da Cunha. Tristan is one of the most isolated islands in the world’s oceans and is inhabited with about 300 people. We still have 1,450 nautical miles (nm) to cover. With the speed we are making now it will take us about 100 hours.
Politically, we have left Antarctica behind as the political border is set by the treaty at latitude 60º South. For us who do not bother about political borders and believe in nature and science, the true limitation has to be the Antarctic Convergence.
This morning the sea temperature was about 4.7 oC and by the evening it had risen to 9 oC over a distance of 150 nm. In the afternoon we were also able to notice the transition outside as the fog got denser and denser and it was hardly possible to see anything in front of the ship. Now, for sure, we have left the southern continent behind and have Subantarctic waters to cover all the way to Tristan. The Convergence is where cold salty water flowing north from the continent sinks below less cold and less salty Subantarctic water and creates a very significant temperature shift. This of course has a major impact on the eco-system and tomorrow new interesting seabirds and other marine mammals will be seen.
The last iceberg we saw was sighted yesterday evening and today we have seen Gentoo and King penguins swimming in the ocean. Maybe it is surprising to encounter these creatures this far out, as we are now almost 300 nm northeast from any land. Also, a pod of hourglass dolphins and a baleen whale were spotted in the late afternoon right before fog closed in.
Remember these creatures are designed to be out here in the ocean and are called pelagic like the storm petrels, albatross, fur and elephant seals. It is us humans whom are very average in almost everything and not really designed to be very good in anything. Maybe this has been the main push in evolution to make us humans successful, just to be average? If you need speed, are in the ocean, make deep dives, fly… we have been forced to become extremely innovative!
Our day at sea has been a pleasant and gentle ride with tailwinds and following seas creating possibilities to enjoy lectures, relax, read our books which we have not had time or energy to open, clean up all our things after so many busy days at Antarctica and South Georgia and of course at last get some time to deal with all the photos taken during our voyage.
Right before we went for dinner our Video Chronicler gave us a pre-taste of the video he made during the days we spent in Antarctica. He also gave us some insight on how to produce a video and what kind of technical tools he uses. It feels very far away now as you watch the video about the Antarctica Peninsula and of course it gave us good memories. We have plenty of days to think and also organize our pictures and logs about our active days at Antarctica and South Georgia as we are making our way to the next continent on this voyage, first South America, later Antarctica and finally Africa.
Africa? It is hard to believe we very recently were down south in a frozen continent and we are sure many of us now are carrying an illness which no doctor in the world can help us with, called the “polar bug.” The only way to cure this state of illness is to urgently go somewhere you find a lot of polar ice. Many of the early explorers were all hit by the same “illness” and kept coming back to the polar areas. In fact Shackelton did go four times to Antarctica and after his death his wife insisted he would be buried below the Convergence as Antarctica was his greatest love affair.
Yesterday afternoon was our very last day at South Georgia. As we woke up in the early morning today, the ship was steaming northeast with a course set at 45o for our goal of Tristan da Cunha. Tristan is one of the most isolated islands in the world’s oceans and is inhabited with about 300 people. We still have 1,450 nautical miles (nm) to cover. With the speed we are making now it will take us about 100 hours.
Politically, we have left Antarctica behind as the political border is set by the treaty at latitude 60º South. For us who do not bother about political borders and believe in nature and science, the true limitation has to be the Antarctic Convergence.
This morning the sea temperature was about 4.7 oC and by the evening it had risen to 9 oC over a distance of 150 nm. In the afternoon we were also able to notice the transition outside as the fog got denser and denser and it was hardly possible to see anything in front of the ship. Now, for sure, we have left the southern continent behind and have Subantarctic waters to cover all the way to Tristan. The Convergence is where cold salty water flowing north from the continent sinks below less cold and less salty Subantarctic water and creates a very significant temperature shift. This of course has a major impact on the eco-system and tomorrow new interesting seabirds and other marine mammals will be seen.
The last iceberg we saw was sighted yesterday evening and today we have seen Gentoo and King penguins swimming in the ocean. Maybe it is surprising to encounter these creatures this far out, as we are now almost 300 nm northeast from any land. Also, a pod of hourglass dolphins and a baleen whale were spotted in the late afternoon right before fog closed in.
Remember these creatures are designed to be out here in the ocean and are called pelagic like the storm petrels, albatross, fur and elephant seals. It is us humans whom are very average in almost everything and not really designed to be very good in anything. Maybe this has been the main push in evolution to make us humans successful, just to be average? If you need speed, are in the ocean, make deep dives, fly… we have been forced to become extremely innovative!
Our day at sea has been a pleasant and gentle ride with tailwinds and following seas creating possibilities to enjoy lectures, relax, read our books which we have not had time or energy to open, clean up all our things after so many busy days at Antarctica and South Georgia and of course at last get some time to deal with all the photos taken during our voyage.
Right before we went for dinner our Video Chronicler gave us a pre-taste of the video he made during the days we spent in Antarctica. He also gave us some insight on how to produce a video and what kind of technical tools he uses. It feels very far away now as you watch the video about the Antarctica Peninsula and of course it gave us good memories. We have plenty of days to think and also organize our pictures and logs about our active days at Antarctica and South Georgia as we are making our way to the next continent on this voyage, first South America, later Antarctica and finally Africa.
Africa? It is hard to believe we very recently were down south in a frozen continent and we are sure many of us now are carrying an illness which no doctor in the world can help us with, called the “polar bug.” The only way to cure this state of illness is to urgently go somewhere you find a lot of polar ice. Many of the early explorers were all hit by the same “illness” and kept coming back to the polar areas. In fact Shackelton did go four times to Antarctica and after his death his wife insisted he would be buried below the Convergence as Antarctica was his greatest love affair.
