Today is Remebrance Sunday i set my alarm for 11 and had a few moments of peace and quiet.
There are lots of sick people this morning, Doc Judy has been busy handing out sea sickness pills but there are less and less people at meal times so they must be really suffering.
It had been a rough night. i woke up at 4am and went to the bridge. I needed reasurance that we were not going to role this huge ship. Captain - are you sick, Sara - no i am scared, captain - roar of laughter, at this point i was no longer affraid. They assure me that the ship can role from 35 degrees to 35 degrees and we are currently roling from 20-25 so we still have room to be thrown around a little bit more.
At sea most of the day revolves around food, which has been excellent. Two lectures after lunch on Birds and Whaling, both excellent.
During dinner we get an announcement that we are about 15 minutes away from our first ice berg. The dinning room cleared as everyone went to get their cameras, wrap up warm and hit the decks. It was more beautiful than i had expected, i could see it in the distance and it is massive, i feel so excited. As it passed the moon lite the ice berg, it was incredible.
Back to the bar for a few hands of cards, a big day tomorrow so an early night.
In preparation for our landing on South Georgia everything had to be cleaned so we had a vaccum party. Ursula, the whale expert getting involved in the fun.
Wandering albatross
John Sparks, the bird man and ex BBC, showing us how big 10 foot really is. This is the wing span of an albatross. On the other end of the rope is Monique, an incredible lady who lost both her parents to cancer, her trip is in memory of them as they never made it.
We had a brief about the next few days on South Georgia. We have about 8 stops planned, where we will see some amazing wildlife up close.
Happy hour, my favorite hour, and my favorite bar man. Ruben and Ruel kept us relaxed with some very generously portioned G&Ts
Standing on the deck waiting for the first sight of the ice berg, in the distance we can start to see it. It is dark and you can´t really get the scale of it but it is big,
Getting close. As we pass it the moon is behind the berg.
And here it is in all its glory. Sadly this is not one of mine, i can only inspire to be this good. MV POLAR STAR SHIPS LOG
Sunday 9th November - At Sea, South Atlantic sailing to South Georgia
Time: 12:00
Latitude: 53° 11.4' S
Longitude: 44°30.6' W
Wind: Force 6 North West
Sea Conditions: Very Rough (wave height 4 – 6m)
Pressure: 1007 mb
Temperature: 7ºC
THE ANTARCTIC CONVERGENCE
The Antarctic Convergence is a narrow zone undulating between 50 and 60 degrees south running right round the continent, and well defined by water temperature readings. It is sometimes marked by a belt of fog or mist where warm, more saline currents coming south from the tropics meet cold, denser, less saline currents moving north from Antarctica. These conflicting currents clash, converge, and sink. The mixing waters provide a sympathetic environment for abundant plankton that nourishes huge numbers of sea birds and mammals. However few organisms cross this radical boundary, so it defines Antarctic physically and ecologically.
Those who had managed to sleep through the nocturnal movements of the ship woke to a bright,sunny day. Gale force winds, coupled with the heavy rolling of the ship made for an exciting time9on deck. Sea-birds continued to follow the ship, providing continuous interest, from the tinyswallow-like storm petrels to the stately royal and wandering albatrosses. It was clear that we were still in the region of the Antarctic Convergence thanks to the fog that continued to hang around theship.
After breakfast Ian gave a talk on the IAATO guidelines, explaining how and why we shouldmanage our behaviour to experience Antarctica fully while leaving it pristine for others to enjoy.New regulations on bio-security have been introduced at South Georgia and Ian took us throughtechniques for minimising the chances of accidentally transferring alien species between locations.Hoovers were left in the lounge and we all spent time vacuuming out our bags, coats, andwaterproof trousers. As the morning drew to a close, those who had been lucky enough to see agroup of pilot whales earlier in the day were sharing their encounter with others. A number of furseals had also been spotted around the ship at various points, along with a fleeting glimpse of more hourglass dolphins.
At 14:00 John Sparks gave his lecture Oceans of Birds which gave us an insight into why seabirdscome in so many different shapes and sizes. This was followed by John Harrison’s presentationHistory of Whaling; a captivating account of the Southern Ocean whaling industry. Ian began recapand briefing with some information about the plans for tomorrow, and was followed by JohnHarrison and his interesting look at the origins of Antarctic place names. Celia Ansdell (one of ourEnglish contingent) was then welcomed onto the stage to read a short poem, The Traveller’sPrayer, which brought some welcome humour to the proceedings. Gary Kochert ended the sessionwith a fascinating description of how our eyes see colours and went on to explain that some birdshave an increased capacity to see colour. He suggested that they may indeed be able to seedifferences between male and female where we cannot, therefore sexual dimorphisms may existthat are invisible to us.
As we were finishing off our main courses in the dining hall, the captain gave an announcementover the PA that we would soon be passing the first iceberg of the trip (53°40.3'S/41°58.9'W). Mostof us wrapped up warm and stood outside the bridge as we watched the magnificent, 30 metre tallcathedral of ice pass close to the ship in the dusk, a magical sight that created much excitement.The evening’s entertainment continued in the observation lounge with The Endurance, adocumentary describing Shakelton’s epic voyage across the Southern Ocean, narrated by LiamNeeson.
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