Calm seas are by far not the standard for the southern oceans… nevertheless; we have had two days of extremely benign long rolling swells on our way from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia. Deep gray skies with intermittent rays of light poking through made for a very melancholic and even dramatic morning, add the scattered snowflakes here and there and the signs are clear, we must be sailing Antarctic waters. The polar front, where the cold waters of Antarctica meet the warmer sub Antarctic currents is the biological boundary of Antarctica. In the area we navigated today, the convergence takes a twist to the north that surrounds the island of South Georgia, making it part of the Antarctic. Several lectures and presentations wetted out appetite for what it is to come in the next days as we get to explore ‘the jewel’ of the southern oceans. However the day was by all accounts, a whale day! The productivity of these waters was proven in the afternoon when we found at least 17-20 finback whales, a couple of blue whales and a mother and a calf humpback whales feeding at the same time! Not very often you see three species of baleen whale at the same time and less than a hundred meters from the ship.
10/23/2024
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National Geographic Endurance
At Sea and the Beagle Channel
The last day of an expedition is always a mix of feelings. There is the rush to pack and get last minute things done, combined with a cascade of emotions from all that has been experienced during a once in a lifetime journey. The sunrise was colorful, the seas calm, and seabirds dotted the skies around National Geographic Endurance. Throughout the day there were a number of presentations and during lunch we were able to enjoy the stunning mountains of Isla de los Estados off our port side. Teatime was a superb occasion! There was an impressive choice of cheeses, crackers, vegetable sticks, and jams all paired with a selection of wines. On our port side, a rainbow appeared over the gray seas. During dinner and throughout the evening, we sailed along the Beagle Channel and past the Bay of Good Success. It was from here that a 23-year-old man wrote in a letter home, “I have decided to dedicate myself to natural history and hope to make some small contribution to it.” His name was Charles Darwin.