Crossing the Southern Ocean is always an exciting prospect and always a unique experience: no two crossings are the same. As we left the white continent behind, it slowly faded behind a veil of thin, cold fog. A long slow swell rolled from the west beneath the ship, growing as we left the shelter of the South Shetlands behind us. As the long day gave way to night, land was totally out of sight giving a 360-degree sea horizon. Apart from a single distant yacht, there were no traces of other people for the entire day. No jet trails in the sky and no other ships. Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are the only places left on earth where you can experience such solitude and oneness with the natural world.
During the day, the ship transited between fog patches, but occasionally our route would take us bursting out of the fog into short spells of clear and sunny weather. During some of these clear spells both fin and humpback whales were spotted from the bridge, while a phalanx of petrels, albatrosses and shearwaters banked back and forth over our wake. The humpbacks were heading steadily south in the opposite direction to us. Undoubtedly, they were hungry after a long season of fasting on their breeding grounds. Soon they will reach the bountiful waters around Antarctic Peninsula to join the feeding frenzy of whales that we observed there in recent days.
After a hearty meal, people were gradually venturing out on deck to watch the wonderful sunset. At this latitude, the sun sets slowly thereby prolonging the warm glow in the sky. The sunset was complimented by an abundance of orange parkas dotted around the decks of the ship and many rosy cheeks. Some of us giddily anticipated the possibility of seeing a ‘green flash’ as conditions for seeing one were ideal. This is an elusive phenomenon best observed at sea when the sunlight bends through the atmosphere giving a green light just after it sinks below a clear horizon. Alas, there was no green flash tonight, but there was a comforting orange glow which lasted long into the night.
As the ship plied her way north, the vast open sea gave us the space and time needed to reflect on the incredible sights, sounds and smells that we experienced over the past week. Processing the thousands of photos can take weeks. However, processing the memories and special moments will take much longer. All on board now have Antarctica coursing through our veins and we will carry the privileged memories of the ice, mountains, sea and wildlife with us forever.
