At Sea, Approaching Angola
Today we were at sea all day as we sail from Namibia to Angola. We crossed the seaward extension of the border between the two countries about 0400 this morning and so we have been sailing in Angolan waters all day. There is a very significant oceanic front at the border where the cold northward setting Benguela current meets the warm southward setting Angola Current. The front is cleverly called the Angola Benguela Front, and we could almost feel the change as the water temperature rose from about 15ºC to about 18ºC over a distance of about 40 nautical miles.
We are now in the tropics and it is beginning to feel tropical as the air warms and the sun shines—a pleasant change from the cold foggy coast of Namibia. We spent the day preparing for Angola with a number of presentations on African culture and history. We are learning how to understand and respect Africans and their way of life so that we can make maximum benefit from our contacts ashore.
In the afternoon we began so see much more activity on the ocean surface ahead of the ship. We saw some beaked whales in the distance and a few bottlenose dolphins who came in to bow ride briefly, but then we spotted a large group of sperm whales, apparently mothers and calves. These females and their young are usually resident in the tropics year round while the males make excursions to the polar waters in the local hemispheric summers in both hemispheres. At the same time we began so see many more Clymene’s dolphins in the area and soon were surrounded by hundreds of them jumping and spinning in the low afternoon light.
