At Sea
The last day of our transit down the Atlantic brought additional excitement. The setting back of the clocks last night resulted in a very early sunrise but we were now on the corresponding time to the coast of Brasil. As soon as it was bright enough to see our faithful spotters Richard and Mike were scanning over the calm seas . We were a mere 30 miles from the mainland coast but because the terrain is low we could not see evidence of a continent until mid-afternoon when we were much closer.
A couple of final talks were given during the day and we had time to engage in the unpopular chore of packing. But still our dedicated staff manned the Bridge wings. Numerous groups of terns passed by the bow of the ship during the day. In the middle of the morning a small group of Pantropical Dolphins were briefly interested in riding the bow wake of the ship and delighting us in their giant leaps from the water just below those hanging over the bow of the ship.
Then in the middle of the afternoon with the skyline of Salvador distantly just on the horizon, a blow and then a smaller blow was spotted between us and the land. The Captain gently approached these animals which were quickly identified as a mother and calf Humpback Whale. Suddenly the female burst out of the water in a tremendous show of the animal’s acrobatic abilities. And then again it came up getting about half of its body out of the water before slapping loudly on the surface with a huge spray of water. Later the calf did a couple leaps as well.
These animals will soon be on their own long journey as they migrate southward to more productive waters around South Georgia to feed. Our journey was about to come to its final destination. We had covered over 3000 nautical miles from the Old World to the New. En route a lot happened. Hopefully memories and experiences will linger forever in our minds of what has been a very special expedition.
The last day of our transit down the Atlantic brought additional excitement. The setting back of the clocks last night resulted in a very early sunrise but we were now on the corresponding time to the coast of Brasil. As soon as it was bright enough to see our faithful spotters Richard and Mike were scanning over the calm seas . We were a mere 30 miles from the mainland coast but because the terrain is low we could not see evidence of a continent until mid-afternoon when we were much closer.
A couple of final talks were given during the day and we had time to engage in the unpopular chore of packing. But still our dedicated staff manned the Bridge wings. Numerous groups of terns passed by the bow of the ship during the day. In the middle of the morning a small group of Pantropical Dolphins were briefly interested in riding the bow wake of the ship and delighting us in their giant leaps from the water just below those hanging over the bow of the ship.
Then in the middle of the afternoon with the skyline of Salvador distantly just on the horizon, a blow and then a smaller blow was spotted between us and the land. The Captain gently approached these animals which were quickly identified as a mother and calf Humpback Whale. Suddenly the female burst out of the water in a tremendous show of the animal’s acrobatic abilities. And then again it came up getting about half of its body out of the water before slapping loudly on the surface with a huge spray of water. Later the calf did a couple leaps as well.
These animals will soon be on their own long journey as they migrate southward to more productive waters around South Georgia to feed. Our journey was about to come to its final destination. We had covered over 3000 nautical miles from the Old World to the New. En route a lot happened. Hopefully memories and experiences will linger forever in our minds of what has been a very special expedition.
