After two pretty busy days in the Falkland Islands, I think many were rather pleased with a day at sea to sort out photos and prepare for South Georgia. We had been warned to prepare for open sea and the potential for a rough crossing… But the ship has had a very gentle rocking motion… almost!

Anyone who thought this would be a day to eat cake and watch movies would be proved wrong pretty quickly because by 0945 we had to listen to the South Georgia Government’s mandatory briefing… which was a movie. But no cake yet!

After the briefing, the rest of the morning was spent carrying out decontamination procedures such as scrubbing and disinfecting boots to remove any seeds, plant materials, or pathogens followed by vacuuming clothes, backpacks, and pockets for any hidden seeds set to colonise South Georgia!

Then we had lunch. There was dulce de leche ice cream and sticky date pudding.

At 1500 the next presentation was about to start on the geology of South Georgia and the Antarctic, only to be interrupted by an hourglass dolphin. Many cetacean experiences can be pretty fleeting when sailing at speed on the ship, but this hourglass dolphin stuck with us for around 10 minutes, riding National Geographic Orion’s wake near the stern, and leaping clear of the water which was pretty spectacular to see.

Then we had cake.

Mike Greenfelder followed shortly after with a talk of the seabirds of the Southern Ocean allowing those who’d eaten to much cake to have a comfortable seat.

At 1815 we had our recap, which included undersea footage, everyone’s favourite!