Across the Scotia Sea
Having left the Falklands behind, we awoke this morning far from the sight of land, in the middle of a vast and gently rolling sea. Miles from anywhere, but never entirely alone, the National Geographic Endeavour is forever accompanied by a variety of seabirds, creatures for whom this trackless ocean is home. We have petrels and prions following in our churning wake, as well as that greatest of marine birds – the Wandering Albatross.
We have to remind ourselves sometimes that when we see penguins and albatross on land -- as we did so spectacularly in the Falklands – this is an anomaly. These are truly creatures of the wind and waves, and spend the majority of their lives far from the rocky shores where they gather to breed. To see them here, in the trackless emptiness of the ocean, is to really recognize the challenges they face their entire lives: to find food, to navigate and simply to survive in a world that to us is entirely hostile.
Much of our day today, meanwhile, was spent editing the thousands of pictures that we have all taken in the Falklands, and beginning to prepare for our upcoming visit to South Georgia. With this in mind, ship’s historian Kim Heacox shared his moving and insightful re-telling of the enduring tale of Ernest Shackleton, the great explorer whose adventures were so intimately tied to the island towards which we are headed.
Having left the Falklands behind, we awoke this morning far from the sight of land, in the middle of a vast and gently rolling sea. Miles from anywhere, but never entirely alone, the National Geographic Endeavour is forever accompanied by a variety of seabirds, creatures for whom this trackless ocean is home. We have petrels and prions following in our churning wake, as well as that greatest of marine birds – the Wandering Albatross.
We have to remind ourselves sometimes that when we see penguins and albatross on land -- as we did so spectacularly in the Falklands – this is an anomaly. These are truly creatures of the wind and waves, and spend the majority of their lives far from the rocky shores where they gather to breed. To see them here, in the trackless emptiness of the ocean, is to really recognize the challenges they face their entire lives: to find food, to navigate and simply to survive in a world that to us is entirely hostile.
Much of our day today, meanwhile, was spent editing the thousands of pictures that we have all taken in the Falklands, and beginning to prepare for our upcoming visit to South Georgia. With this in mind, ship’s historian Kim Heacox shared his moving and insightful re-telling of the enduring tale of Ernest Shackleton, the great explorer whose adventures were so intimately tied to the island towards which we are headed.
