At Sea
Days at sea can reveal so many unexpected delights within and upon the ocean’s waters. Today started slowly, the sun starting to shine behind the clouds, breaking through to reveal a stunning blue sky. Endeavour, steady on her course towards Rio, cut through the water, until suddenly people started to jump up and down on the starboard bridge wing. Ecstatically, our shipmates yelled, “big …whale…there…” pointing somewhere in the distance, the excitement of seeing one of the greatest and most congenial marine mammals, the humpback whale, taking over the entire thought and speech process.
The guests of Endeavour were graced with a fantastic show of lobtailing and flipperslapping, before we decided to move off the first of many humpback whales during our day. Whales of this type are spread worldwide, ranging from pole to pole. However, humpbacks stick to their particular hemisphere for their lifetimes, only the animals of Panama, Costa Rica, and Belize cross back and forth over the equator. It is amazing to think that for some of us onboard, who might be traveling down to Antarctica later this season, we might actually see some of the same whales we have been spotting on this trip, as these humpbacks are now migrating down to Antarctica for the austral summer.
As we travel further south down the Brazilian coast, we are encountering a change in the marine life. In a few days time, we will start to move out of the tropics, and into the temperate zone, and with this change in latitude comes different species of marine mammals and fish. A blessing on this trip, we have actually been able to sample much of the marine cuisine, as our galley strives to give us a sampling of the indigenous fresh fish in every port. Today, our hotel manager and head chef did not even wait for us to pull into a dock, but rather dropped a Zodiac, and approached a fishing vessel, inquiring about what kind of fish they might have for the guests of Endeavour.
What they arrived onboard with was the Brazilian sole, seen here with our Head Chef, Sous Chef, and Undersea Specialist (mind you, all interested in this fish for opposing reasons). Soles like to live in sandy or muddy bottoms, where they can blend in with the scenery, as they can change colors to match their environs. But the only blending this evening was the exquisite blend of flavors that accompanied this fish on our dinner plates. Bon Appetite!
Days at sea can reveal so many unexpected delights within and upon the ocean’s waters. Today started slowly, the sun starting to shine behind the clouds, breaking through to reveal a stunning blue sky. Endeavour, steady on her course towards Rio, cut through the water, until suddenly people started to jump up and down on the starboard bridge wing. Ecstatically, our shipmates yelled, “big …whale…there…” pointing somewhere in the distance, the excitement of seeing one of the greatest and most congenial marine mammals, the humpback whale, taking over the entire thought and speech process.
The guests of Endeavour were graced with a fantastic show of lobtailing and flipperslapping, before we decided to move off the first of many humpback whales during our day. Whales of this type are spread worldwide, ranging from pole to pole. However, humpbacks stick to their particular hemisphere for their lifetimes, only the animals of Panama, Costa Rica, and Belize cross back and forth over the equator. It is amazing to think that for some of us onboard, who might be traveling down to Antarctica later this season, we might actually see some of the same whales we have been spotting on this trip, as these humpbacks are now migrating down to Antarctica for the austral summer.
As we travel further south down the Brazilian coast, we are encountering a change in the marine life. In a few days time, we will start to move out of the tropics, and into the temperate zone, and with this change in latitude comes different species of marine mammals and fish. A blessing on this trip, we have actually been able to sample much of the marine cuisine, as our galley strives to give us a sampling of the indigenous fresh fish in every port. Today, our hotel manager and head chef did not even wait for us to pull into a dock, but rather dropped a Zodiac, and approached a fishing vessel, inquiring about what kind of fish they might have for the guests of Endeavour.
What they arrived onboard with was the Brazilian sole, seen here with our Head Chef, Sous Chef, and Undersea Specialist (mind you, all interested in this fish for opposing reasons). Soles like to live in sandy or muddy bottoms, where they can blend in with the scenery, as they can change colors to match their environs. But the only blending this evening was the exquisite blend of flavors that accompanied this fish on our dinner plates. Bon Appetite!
