Today brought another day at sea, cruising a ways off the polar ice edge. The reason we’re not spending time right near the ice is that fog has enveloped the area, and visibility is extremely poor. So for safety reasons it is prudent to give the ice some room! Hopefully, visibility will increase at some point today, and we might have a chance to look for wildlife along our path near Greenland.
This particular area can be subject to fog, because the colder Arctic waters and ice collide with the warmer Gulf Stream sweeping its way north toward Europe. Anytime you have these different temperature waters meeting, it is highly likely that fog can be a possibility! We’ll just have to wait and see what the rest of the day brings. It was still nice to get outside and experience the “open ocean!”
Even though there was poor visibility for most of the day, we filled our time listening to several different talks, one on public speaking, another on pinnipeds, and finally a lecture on sea level change. There was also some time for another short photo “breakout session” just before tea time.
Soon it was time for our evening recap and briefing. We heard about what we hoped to do tomorrow morning, a landing on a remote Island called Jan Mayen. Wish us lots of luck, and stay tuned! Another great dinner, and it was off to bed for some sleep, and dreaming about what would come tomorrow.
