Today was a busy day at sea as we approach the Cape Verde Island of Fogo, which we will visit tomorrow. We continued to learn more about our oceanic surroundings with presentations about:
-“Hot Spots and Oceanic Islands” by Jim Kelley
-“The Atlantic Slave Trade” by David Barnes
-“British Character” by Roddy Bray
-Jim also completed his popular navigation workshop series with the “Electronic Aids to Navigation.”
Guests aboard National Geographic Explorer conducted water chemistry, plankton, and plastics sample #7 as they continued to collect and compile data for our “Epic Atlantic Investigation.” Our present observations and samples explore the dynamic marine environment as we sail across the North Equatorial Current and into the Northeast Trades.
Over the last few days, we have observed many patches of Sargassum macroalgae. While up on the bridge, our staff has received many guest questions about these oddly-shaped yellowish/brownish masses floating on the surface of the water. Sargassum clumps and large mats create individual mini-ecosystems in the open ocean for many organisms. Our guests watched as we paused on our journey, deployed a Zodiac, and collected a sample. After it was sorted and analyzed, we identified two different Sargassum species and two species of crustaceans (shown below). Sea turtle hatchlings will float with the weed for up to two years while avoiding predation, and both seabirds and fishes congregate nearby. Naturalist Deb Goodwin will be presenting a talk further explaining this unique habitat and the research she does before the end of our expedition.
The Epic news of the day was our first sperm whale sighting! We were incredibly fortunate to be able to view a cow and her juvenile calf side by side right off our bow. It was a thrilling sight to see them take repeated breaths, roll through the water, exposing their small dorsal fins and then actually fluke. I don’t think the whales knew it, but all onboard the National Geographic Explorer cheered and applauded. To quote Mr. Kelley, “It doesn’t get much better than that!”
