Drake Passage, 2/16/2022, National Geographic Explorer
Aboard the
National Geographic Explorer
Antarctica
After leaving Elephant Island yesterday, we sailed all night and day in the Drake Passage. As we traveled back to South America, we spent time reflecting on our amazing days in Antarctica. We thought back on the incredible scenery, whales galore, comical penguins and so much more.
The Drake was not quite the lake we had sailing south. We still spent time looking for seabirds, but most of us pondered our incredible journey.
Mike learned early on that the best way to escape Ohio was to become a marine biologist. During college at Wittenberg University he attended a semester at Duke University's Marine Lab — that time only confirmed his love for all things oceanic and ma...
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After an overnight transit from Brown Bluff, we awoke in Cierva Cove to cloudy but absolutely calm conditions. We were surrounded by surreal sculptures of ice, both floating and on land. Two large glaciers, Breguet and Gregory, provide the numerous icebergs, bergy bits, growlers, and brash ice that floated serenely in the cove. Morning operations had half of us on Zodiac cruises with the other half remaining on board for an excursion through the dense brash ice (which cannot be entered by Zodiacs) near the two glaciers. The roles were reversed midmorning. The most enthralling aspect of both ops was the silent majesty of ice and snow. Two small calving events of a floating iceberg were observed while we enjoyed Zodiac cruising, along with one small leopard seal, a few gentoo penguins, and an assortment of terns and petrels. But the most exciting aspect of the morning was just reinforcing and appreciating our sense of place as we cruised among icebergs in an absolutely calm Antarctic cove. Following lunch, several guests ventured into the cove with double kayaks, while the rest enjoyed the scenery (or a good book) on board. As it happened, the calm and warmish conditions that existed all morning changed to brisk and blustery winds that fueled choppy waves and an accumulation of brash ice as we got into the kayaks. An hour in a kayak under these conditions is challenging, but it is an exciting part of the Antarctic experience, one that will be remembered and relived often to family and friends. Just before cocktail hour, a pair of humpback whales surfaced within 30 yards of National Geographic Explorer . The ship stopped, and the whales peacefully dove and surfaced in front of numerous cameras for about twenty minutes. Several photos of the underside of the flukes were taken, perhaps allowing the whales to be identified. And so ended another unique day in Antarctica. More adventures tomorrow!
The first part of any expedition to Antarctica is, of course, the infamous Drake Passage. Long known for some of the worst seas in the world, many guests wonder what it will be like when we cross it. All and all, our crossing was fairly average. There is a bright side to a windy crossing, and that is birds. This is the Southern Ocean, home to the masters of long distant flight, the albatross. By the end of breakfast, we had spotted four species. Mostly, we observed light-mantled albatrosses. One species rather rare to this area, the Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross, was also spotted. This was a very special bird for a very special first day.
Each day in Antarctica offers new and unexpected experiences to guests, whether it’s gazing out over otherworldly landscapes for the first time, encountering penguins busily tending to the task of nesting, or simply finding ourselves at the bottom of the world without any signs of human activity. Guests met the day with anticipation for the pending and momentous occasion of crossing the Antarctic Circle for the very first time. The Antarctic Circle is not as easily crossed as the Arctic Circle in the Northern Hemisphere. Both imaginary lines on the Earth’s surface mark the latitude at which for one day in the summer the sun never sets and for one day in the winter the sun never rises. By 0900 this morning, our ship crossed this line surrounded by magnificent icebergs, pans of sea ice, and distant ice-covered peaks and valleys on the eastern horizon. To mark the occasion, our hotel department brought out champagne, and we toasted as the ship’s captain blew the horn. The outer decks were packed with thrilled guests, crew, and staff alike. We all embraced as we celebrated this remarkable event. As we continued to sail farther south in Crystal Sound, still pinching ourselves that we were here in this wild, surreal, and stunning setting, we took in the sights and made the very most of the experience as it unfolded. Of note was the near constant presence of a unique seabird endemic to Antarctica. Antarctic petrels flew over the waters, soared effortlessly over towering icebergs, and occasionally accompanied the ship. These sleek, black and white seabirds are one of the most abundant birds in Antarctica, but they are rarely seen in the numbers we encountered. Throughout the day, we observed several thousand birds in large flocks. To conclude the day’s events, our expedition leader and captain thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to offer a wholly unique activity: setting foot on one of the numerous large floes of sea ice in the area. We brought guests by Zodiac to three carefully selected ice floes, and we spent a little time experiencing what life might feel like for a penguin. As we traveled by Zodiac, we observed millions of tiny ice krill foraging and swimming along the edges of the ice floes. We were also able to observe Antarctic petrels, terns, and snow petrels as they foraged on the tiny but vital cornerstone species of the Antarctic. The entire day was truly spectacular. All on board felt immersed in this environment, like no one else in the world existed.
