A good group started the day stretching which was probably an excellent idea after all the excitement of seeing hundreds of fin whales last night and the thousands of photos that were inevitably taken.
As it was a day at sea it was a time to enjoy all the amenities of National Geographic Endurance. The balmy (for the Scotia Sea anyway!) weather allowed lots of walking around Deck 8. It’s a great way to get some exercise while still being able to look for wildlife.
The expedition staff were up on the bridge looking out for any interesting "blubbery things" as our expedition leader, Brent Stephenson, likes to say. We did get to see a few whales, but nothing like the spectacle of the fin whales off Coronation Island. Also some new bird species for the journey like these Antarctic prions.
Bob Bindschadler, our guest speaker, gave a fascinating presentation on "Earth’s Bipolar Disorder," enabling us to really understand the mechanism of the warming planet and how it will affect us.
Given we are on our way to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, we needed to get educated about the bio-security requirements of being in those waters. The South Georgian government has put together a video narrated by Sir David Attenborough which was definitely a voice we all recognized. Then it was down to Base Camp for washing of boots and vacuuming pockets and bits of velcro to make sure we’re not bringing anything untoward to the islands.
Now we are further north, we’re actually getting sunsets and sunrises and tonight’s had a lovely pink glow with an iceberg passing under an almost full moon.
