Our first morning of two full days at sea (after spending five exciting days on the magnificent island of South Georgia) found the National Geographic Explorer bounding westward through building seas toward the town of Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Early risers who went to the bridge before breakfast were rewarded with brief sightings of both fin and sei whales, which were making their way southward to the rich feeding grounds of the Southern Ocean’s approaching austral summer. During the night we had passed through the polar front which separates the Southern Ocean from the other oceans of the world, the outside air temperature rose considerably as we were now back in the South Atlantic. Black-browed albatross, giant petrels, Antarctic prions, and many other familiar seabirds continued to be our constant escorts all around the ship.
At 10:00 a.m. naturalist Santiago Imberti delivered our first presentation of the day, an informative, illustrated talk on the natural history of the seals of the Southern Ocean. At 3 p.m. after our mid-day meal and a nap for many, our naturalist/historian Eduardo Shaw presented an interesting talk on the life and work of one of the world’s first great naturalists, Charles Darwin.
Afternoon tea at 4 p.m. included four flavors of ice cream with the choice of a variety of toppings and was followed shortly after with a presentation by National Geographic photographer, Michael Melford entitled “Wild About Wildlife.” In his introduction he said he was strictly a landscape photographer but then followed that claim by showing some truly astounding photographs of wildlife from various far-flung parts of the world. He included some helpful hints on how to take better pictures of wild animals and to always maintain a safe distance when photographing potentially dangerous creatures. He illustrated the point by showing an amusing series of pictures of tourists obviously putting themselves in harm’s way around large animals.
The boisterous seas that tested our balance as we made our way about the ship throughout the day, eased a bit by Recap and dinner and rocked us gently to sleep when we eventually turned in.
