Drake Passage

Today could be characterized by its many moods and activities. During the morning we experienced strong winds from the northwest accompanied with a following swell, which caused the ship to move about quite a lot. However the weather forecast we heard with our wake-up call was to prove spot on. The wind throughout the morning picked up considerably and initially swung around to the west and by midday was gusting strongly at 35 to 40 knots. Later on in the day it completed its southern arc and ending up with winds from the southwest quarter. Whilst relieved that the ship was handling these varied conditions very smoothly, we did realize that the Drake was giving us a glimpse of what it is so famed for. During the late afternoon the wind eased off progressively and by cocktail hour the sea conditions were calm, the light beautiful, thus inviting many on to the aft deck to try and photograph the seabirds flying effortlessly about the vessel. Throughout the day giant petrels, black-browed albatrosses and the huge wandering albatross, among other birds, mesmerized us as they showed us how they have mastered these conditions and seem so at home in this notorious body of water.

At 13:00 hours we were at 58° 00’ S latitude and the sea temperature was 3.8°C and by 15:00 hours the sea temperature had dropped to 1.4°C and the ships position 58° 22’ S latitude—this dramatic change meant that we had crossed the polar front and could say, from a biological perspective, that we had entered both Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The air temperature on deck was a lot colder, confirming the transition into the austral polar region.

Throughout the day we were also kept busy with lectures, covering the ecology, the birds and the geology of Antarctica. We also had the opportunity to become better acquainted with our cameras and how to better capture images during the expedition.
After dinner many of us headed back on deck to catch the last glimpses of the albatrosses still accompanying the ship as the sun set in the west and a beautiful full moon rose in the east.

It has been a splendid first day on our journey.