At Sea, Approaching Salvador
Today is the final day at sea of our Atlantic Crossing Voyage. We are blessed with fine weather. The southeast trade winds are blowing fresh and the sea is rolling along beneath the hull of National Geographic Endeavour. We are making preparations to disembark in the morning for a day or two in Bahia, the colorful state of which Salvador is the capital.
This morning shortly before breakfast we encountered a minke whale cruising slowly just beneath the surface. These relatively small whales, the smallest of the rorqual whales, are very widespread and are still hunted in some parts of their range, especially by the Japanese and Norwegian whalers, but the population is quite large despite the whaling pressure. We watched this individual as it came quite close to the ship, as Chief Mate Ben Lyons and Captain Oliver Kruess maneuvered the ship to get the best vantage point.
During the rest of the day we were fully occupied with several activities. These included a LEX Forum on Climate Change. We also watched a wonderful retrospective by National Geographic photographer Jim Blair on his assignment covering the return of the citizens of Tristan de Cunha when they were repatriated after their 18 month stay in England following their evacuation when their volcanic island erupted in 1961. We ended the formal presentations with a very entertaining discussion by Expedition Leader Tom Ritchie on sailing lore, stories accumulated throughout a lifetime at sea.
It was all culminated with the Captain’s Farewell Cocktail Party and Dinner, the perfect end to a wonderful voyage.
Today is the final day at sea of our Atlantic Crossing Voyage. We are blessed with fine weather. The southeast trade winds are blowing fresh and the sea is rolling along beneath the hull of National Geographic Endeavour. We are making preparations to disembark in the morning for a day or two in Bahia, the colorful state of which Salvador is the capital.
This morning shortly before breakfast we encountered a minke whale cruising slowly just beneath the surface. These relatively small whales, the smallest of the rorqual whales, are very widespread and are still hunted in some parts of their range, especially by the Japanese and Norwegian whalers, but the population is quite large despite the whaling pressure. We watched this individual as it came quite close to the ship, as Chief Mate Ben Lyons and Captain Oliver Kruess maneuvered the ship to get the best vantage point.
During the rest of the day we were fully occupied with several activities. These included a LEX Forum on Climate Change. We also watched a wonderful retrospective by National Geographic photographer Jim Blair on his assignment covering the return of the citizens of Tristan de Cunha when they were repatriated after their 18 month stay in England following their evacuation when their volcanic island erupted in 1961. We ended the formal presentations with a very entertaining discussion by Expedition Leader Tom Ritchie on sailing lore, stories accumulated throughout a lifetime at sea.
It was all culminated with the Captain’s Farewell Cocktail Party and Dinner, the perfect end to a wonderful voyage.
