Drake Passage
It’s our first day in the Drake Passage on the way back toward Ushuaia, Argentina, our disembarkation port. We’re having some wind and taking seas quartering on the bow of the ship, but an average crossing for these waters. After a luxuriously late wake up call at 8am, we started the day with our disembarkation briefing from Kimberly Goins, our Assistant Expedition Leader. We also got some information from another staff member, Larry Prussin, for those of us who are going on the Easter Island extension.
Later in the morning came the final recap of the trip. Jen started things off with a few passages from the ship’s logs of James Cook and James Ross, which talked of their feelings about Antarctica. John talked about the significance of the Antarctic Circle, while Magnus addressed the impact which whaling had around the continent. Eric announced that there would be a laptop gallery the next day, to view individual’s photos that were taken on the trip. Dennis entertained us one final time with amazing underwater video and his quick humor. Finally, Tom talked about the Antarctic treaty and how that affects what kind of activities can take place in and around the continent.
There were sea birds flying around the ship, but they seemed to be relatively sparse for most of the day, so not too many guests were out on deck for very long. Some people spent part of the day on the bridge watching the power of the Southern Ocean.
In late afternoon, Marylou Blakeslee gave us a lecture on krill, the amazing little creatures that form into large swarms and feed most of the life in and around Antarctica. This tremendous biomass is the center of the food chain inside the Antarctic Convergence.
Finally, after cocktail hour and dinner, our first officer, Ben Lyons, talked about the workings of the National Geographic Explorer. Some packing was started, but most people retired early and tried to catch up on some sleep after our amazing trip!
It’s our first day in the Drake Passage on the way back toward Ushuaia, Argentina, our disembarkation port. We’re having some wind and taking seas quartering on the bow of the ship, but an average crossing for these waters. After a luxuriously late wake up call at 8am, we started the day with our disembarkation briefing from Kimberly Goins, our Assistant Expedition Leader. We also got some information from another staff member, Larry Prussin, for those of us who are going on the Easter Island extension.
Later in the morning came the final recap of the trip. Jen started things off with a few passages from the ship’s logs of James Cook and James Ross, which talked of their feelings about Antarctica. John talked about the significance of the Antarctic Circle, while Magnus addressed the impact which whaling had around the continent. Eric announced that there would be a laptop gallery the next day, to view individual’s photos that were taken on the trip. Dennis entertained us one final time with amazing underwater video and his quick humor. Finally, Tom talked about the Antarctic treaty and how that affects what kind of activities can take place in and around the continent.
There were sea birds flying around the ship, but they seemed to be relatively sparse for most of the day, so not too many guests were out on deck for very long. Some people spent part of the day on the bridge watching the power of the Southern Ocean.
In late afternoon, Marylou Blakeslee gave us a lecture on krill, the amazing little creatures that form into large swarms and feed most of the life in and around Antarctica. This tremendous biomass is the center of the food chain inside the Antarctic Convergence.
Finally, after cocktail hour and dinner, our first officer, Ben Lyons, talked about the workings of the National Geographic Explorer. Some packing was started, but most people retired early and tried to catch up on some sleep after our amazing trip!
