Drake Passage
During the night, we left the relatively protected waters of the Beagle Channel and entered the notorious and often dreaded Drake Passage. This stretch of open sea, named after English explorer and buccaneer Sir Francis Drake, is infamous for its terrific winds and rough seas. We lucked out; the morning was mostly sunny with brief occasional showers. The wind blew up to 30 knots but averaged only 20. The sea was stirred into swells of perhaps 6 meters, but the National Geographic Endeavour handled them in fine form.
Most of the day a variety of seabirds, including wandering and royal albatrosses, pintado petrels, and southern giant petrels, glided alongside giving us great views and challenging the photographers. All these species belong to the group of birds known as the tubenoses. A tube-like structure running along the top of their bill, or in the case of the albatrosses partly concealed, plays a role in the excretion of excess salt from drinking sea water. These long nostrils also indicate that these birds have a well developed sense of smell, something unusual in the bird world.
In the afternoon, we heard from several Expedition Team members. I gave a short talk about using digital cameras and explained what a histogram is. We learned why the southern ocean is so biologically productive from Steve MacLean, and David Cothran helped us understand the fascinating geologic history of Antarctica and its neighboring continents. As the afternoon progressed, most of us gained our sea legs and were present for dinner.
Due to the fine sea conditions, we are making excellent time and the possibility of landing tomorrow in the South Shetlands looks promising.
During the night, we left the relatively protected waters of the Beagle Channel and entered the notorious and often dreaded Drake Passage. This stretch of open sea, named after English explorer and buccaneer Sir Francis Drake, is infamous for its terrific winds and rough seas. We lucked out; the morning was mostly sunny with brief occasional showers. The wind blew up to 30 knots but averaged only 20. The sea was stirred into swells of perhaps 6 meters, but the National Geographic Endeavour handled them in fine form.
Most of the day a variety of seabirds, including wandering and royal albatrosses, pintado petrels, and southern giant petrels, glided alongside giving us great views and challenging the photographers. All these species belong to the group of birds known as the tubenoses. A tube-like structure running along the top of their bill, or in the case of the albatrosses partly concealed, plays a role in the excretion of excess salt from drinking sea water. These long nostrils also indicate that these birds have a well developed sense of smell, something unusual in the bird world.
In the afternoon, we heard from several Expedition Team members. I gave a short talk about using digital cameras and explained what a histogram is. We learned why the southern ocean is so biologically productive from Steve MacLean, and David Cothran helped us understand the fascinating geologic history of Antarctica and its neighboring continents. As the afternoon progressed, most of us gained our sea legs and were present for dinner.
Due to the fine sea conditions, we are making excellent time and the possibility of landing tomorrow in the South Shetlands looks promising.
