Crossing the Drake Passage into Antarctica
IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD! The much-heralded last day of life on earth (according to the Mayan calendar) turned out to be a day of firsts instead. For on this day, we got our first glimpse of Antarctica. And so our mind wanders: who was the first to sight land here? Turns out, there is some debate about that point. Depending on what sources you reference, it could have been the Russian sailor and explorer, Thaddeus Bellingshausen, who joined the Navy when he was just 10 years old. A “superb navigator and acute observer,” he would later become an Admiral in the fleet. Or it could have been Nathaniel Palmer, an American born in Stonington, Connecticut to a father who was a ship owner. Young Nathaniel was 19 when he joined a sealing expedition bound for the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. Or it could have been Edward Bransfield, a British naval officer in command of a brig called the Williams. Bransfield had instructions to secure islands in the name of King George III and to scout possible locations for a British naval base. Though there is some controversy as to who sighted land first, the timing is known: it was January of 1820.
Our day of firsts began (thankfully) with some calmer seas after a stormy crossing of the “dreaded” Drake Passage. Emerging from our bunks after a day with our feet up and heads down, we were regaled by naturalist/historian Kim Heacox on the adventures of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Then came the first iceberg and shortly afterwards, the first blows of whales on our journey. Fin whales are long and sleek baleen filter feeders, the second largest whales in the sea, after the rarely observed blue whales. Whereas whalers and sealers used to ply these waters with harpoons, we now hunt with cameras and binoculars. We’ve come a long way, literally and figuratively, in our relationship with whales. The energy and excitement around the ship was almost palpable, as we began to explore the waters and wildlife around Antarctica.
After months of planning and organizing, this is it. Instead of saying goodbye to the world as we knew it, we are saying hello TO A NEW WORLD, and we want to know it. Welcome to Antarctica!
