At sea in the Drake Passage
Crosby, Stills and Nash sang: “When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way.”
Crossings. Collectively we have crossed time zones, the Tropic of Cancer, the equator, the Tropic of Capricorn, and hemispheres to make our way south to Antarctica. To reach the coldest, windiest, and driest place on earth, we must cross the Drake, a rite of passage. During the course of our expedition on National Geographic Explorer with Captain Oliver Kruess and his officers at the helm, we plan to sail from the South Shetlands, across Bransfield Strait, through the Antarctic Sound to push south into the Weddell Sea. Noteworthy crossings.
We crossed the northern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), which flows continuously in an easterly direction around Antarctica. The ACC isolates the Antarctic continent from the warmer waters to the north. The northern and southern boundaries of the ACC are well defined by differences in temperature. The northern boundary is called the Polar Front. The rapid drop in temperature is often associated with mist that forms as warm air meets cold water. Here the currents cross and mix, drawing hundreds of seabirds in to feed.
Wandering, gray-headed, and black-browed albatross, the ocean’s gypsies, soar above us, crossing over our wake to dip and gather food in the sea. The pursuit of a meal involves a different technique for every species. Petrels, superb and distinctive in flight, fish with their deeply grooved and hooked beaks. Photographers were “on assignment” capturing birds on wing, while ice crystals in cirrus clouds high overhead created a perfect circle around the sun.
Later tonight with the Southern Cross and a nearly full moon above us, National Geographic Explorer will cross 60 degrees south. This imaginary line marks both the political entrance into Antarctica and the northern edge of the Southern Ocean. We do indeed understand why we came this way!
