At Sea, South Georgia to Falklands
The oceans absorb most of the heat from our sun because they make up most of our planet’s surface. Just like us, 70% water. We heard from the scientists at King Edward Point, Grytviken last night that the seas off South Georgia have been getting warmer. Just like us, when they get hot, they release water vapour. They warm the air above the sea, and that warm moist air rises, condenses, warms faster and rises further. This rising air creates a low pressure system and as Nature abhors a vacuum, air flows in to replace it. The warmer the sea, the deeper the low, the more air pours in. The technical term for this is wind. And today we have wind. Just what you’d expect sooner or later in the southern ocean.
The big sailing clippers of yore depended on it. The round-the-world yachtsmen search for it. All sailors need it. But not too much, and preferably not at breakfast. Force 4: small wavelets on your coffee. Force 6: marmalade moves across toast unaided. Force 8: whole cutlery in motion, plates move steadily downwind, passengers increasingly flatten out and assume horizontal positions…..
But out at sea, breakfast is also being served and diners are flocking in from all sides. Fur seals burst out of the sea, rushing to get into the krill queue. Grey-headed, black-browed and wandering albatross scythe gracefully through the throng like immaculate waiters. Swirling crowds of prions scutter hither and thither looking for seafood snacks in the bargain bistro. It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good……
We have reveled in the glories of South Georgia. South Gorgeous more like, with its gilded Valley of the Kings, snowy peaks, and beaches bursting with all the fun and frolic of a fur seal summer. Now we have set our sights to the west, to Falklands, a thousand miles away over the horizon. Over the planet’s surface, across a warming ocean.
