At sea between the Falkland Islands and South Georgia
Cool Welcome at the Polar Front
Morning broke with the National Geographic Explorer embraced by fog and mist, a sure sign that the ship was moving through the Antarctic Convergence, also known as the Polar Front. This is a highly productive natural boundary where the relatively warmer waters of the subantarctic meet cold, less saline Antarctic waters and a gateway to the Southern Ocean. The location’s wet and cool greeting did not deter Richard and a group of guests from making an early trip to the bridge in search of species associated with these latitudes. Animals observed before breakfast include a Light-mantled sooty albatross, blue petrel, fairy prion and a Southern bottlenose whale.
There is a tangible excitement in the air as we approach South Georgia. Everyone is in preparation mode and to assist in making the most of this unique opportunity, the photo team offered a follow-up to last night’s image critique with a morning discussion on photo mechanics covering various aspects of producing and saving digital images. Afterwards Lisa led a mandatory briefing for all guests wishing to go ashore tomorrow, this included the presentation of a film produced by the South Georgia government on the history, biodiversity and protection of the island’s ecological characteristics as well as some guidelines for behavior during our visit.
The next step in preparing for tomorrow’s disembarkation was a mandatory decontamination of all outer layer clothing items, as well as backpacks, camera bags, tripods and walking sticks. The ship’s mudroom was the converted into decontamination central where staff gathered armed with vacuum cleaners and scrub brushes ready to rid the guests of potentially invasive stowaways. The activity took on a festive air as each cabin level was called down and guest arrived with their things. Pockets, folds of clothing and Velcro attachments were suctioned clean while boot treads were scrubbed and disinfected. Cleaning has never been so much fun and filled with anticipation!
Just after 2pm we passed Shag Rock. As its name suggests, various Blue-eyed shags sat atop its slopes barely visible under the blanket of fog.
The afternoon offered further intellectual enrichment through two very informative presentations on penguins and pinnipeds by Richard and Mike. With this we are ready for our arrival to South Georgia.
