Scotia Sea
Our amazing weather karma continues with a lovely day of smooth sailing through the Scotia Sea towards South Georgia. Those early risers were rewarded with lots of sightings of fin whales before breakfast. Fin whales are the second largest of all the cetaceans reaching lengths close to eighty feet here in the Southern Ocean. It was a fantastic way to start the day.
We listened to several interesting presentations throughout this day at sea. Eduardo Shaw started with the incredible story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition. It was fitting as we are retracing their journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia but are ever so grateful to be on the luxurious National Geographic Explorer rather than in open lifeboat!
Later in the day we heard from National Geographic photographer Michael Melford and he gave us many useful photo tips as well as telling great stories. The afternoon was devoted to learning all about the marine mammals of the southern ocean. Stephanie Martin told us about the whales, dolphin, and porpoises found here and so far we have been very lucky with lots of whale sightings this trip. Kara Weller then gave a presentation about various seals we have been seeing and the animals we hope to see more of in South Georgia.
A day at sea can be very relaxing and a great chance to learn more about many of the wonderful things we experienced so far. Several very dedicated whale watchers spent most of the day on the bridge scanning the sea! It was time well spent as they had the chance to see a southern bottlenosed whale just as it surfaced right in front of the ship. These are beaked whales that are not seen as often so a very exciting sighting! Who knows what kind of things we will find tomorrow?
