At Sea
Days at sea are days for reflection about our past experiences, and preparation for future adventures. Leaving behind the beauty and immensity of the Antarctic, we look at pictures we took and try to remember how we felt when we were walking on those places: the smell of a penguin rookery, the rain in our faces, the comforting hot chocolate when coming back from a Zodiac cruse, or the nice hot meal we got at the end of our expedition day.
Preparing ourselves for the next part of our journey does not only involve reading and learning about the wildlife and history of our destination. We also have to make sure that we are not vectors of seeds, spores or terrestrial invertebrates that are exotic to the places we visit. Therefore, today we did our decontamination procedures during the morning; vacuuming all clothing we have been using outside and cleaning our boots (see photo). We had to be very careful, since some seeds or eggs can be extraordinary resistant – for example, a seed from the Antarctic flowering plant Colobantus quitensis can germinate after three weeks in sea water! Accidental introductions of non-native organisms can be a serious threat to these sensitive terrestrial ecosystems. With the current trend of increasing temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula and the sub-Antarctic islands, the possibility that new introductions may became established is much higher. This is why is so important to explore responsibly.
Tomorrow a new expedition day is waiting for us in the wonderful sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. We went to sleep imagining the new things we will see in our incredible voyage: new glaciers, new mountains, new albatrosses, new penguins, new seals...
