DAY TWO - 02 14 2013 - The Drake Passage

We woke up today travelling through the dreaded Drake Passage. The Drake Passage is the body of water between the southern tip of South America and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.  The Drake Passage is approximately 500 miles between the continents and it is the shortest crossing from Antarctica to the rest of the world.   It can be the roughest waters in the world with 10 - 20 foot swells. Experienced sailors consider it an accomplishment to travel through the Drake Passage. Although we all expected to get sea sick (despite taking Dramamine), Sue was particularly worried because she gets motion sickness very easily. In fact, I had to practically drag her on this trip. 

Map of the Drake Passage

Every once in awhile the ocean calms down, making the Drake Passage easier to traverse. This is called the "Drake Lake" effect. Sue's payers must have come true, because we sailed through the Drake Passage with only minor turbulence.  In fact, we rather enjoyed the Drake Passage as it provided us with time to learn about Antarctica and get to know our fellow passengers.
If you want to see how bad the Drake Passage can be then click HERE

Not so choppy waters

Still no choppy waters... the Drake Lake!

One of the mandatory activities was to take preventive measures to ensure that we didn't bring any invasive species into Antarctica. This required us to vacuum all our backpacks and outdoor clothing (jackets, pants, gloves, hats, etc.)

Vacuuming any foreign species 

We also attended many classes during the day, including photography classes, a biodiversity class, and classes on penguins and whales.

We also learned of the various currents and convergences of the oceans which helps create and sustain the abundant wildlife in Antarctica.  Apparently, warmer waters of the north meet the colder, denser, less saline waters of the south and as the colder water sinks beneath the warmer, a mixing occurs that brings nutrients to the surface.  This is called the "Antarctic Convergence".  Found between 40 degrees S and 60 degrees S, the convergence is an ever changing frontier. It is the biological limit of the Antarctic ecosystem and anywhere south of the convergence is known as the Antarctic Ocean. While there is often a low fog in the area and an increase in wildlife, other than using a thermometer, there is no way to know when you are crossing it; the seas do not get rougher and the water colour does not change. The waters of Antarctica circle the continent in the world's biggest ocean current at an estimated rate of 150 million cubic meters per second (600 times that of the Amazon River). Once carried far into the northern oceans, the dense polar water has a cooling effect on tropical and temperate waters and is important to the ocean's balance.

 
During our voyage, we had some "companions" travel with us across the Drake Passage. There were quite a few birds that traveled with the ship. Of particular interest to me was the Wandering Albatross.  Wandering is the best word to describe these birds as they spend most of their life in flight, landing only to breed and feed.  In fact, one bird was recorded travelling over 6000km in twelve days.  The Wandering Albatross has the longest wingspan of any living bird, ranging from 8ft to 12 ft across!  As a result, it can remain in the air without beating its wings for a number of hours.   Trying to take pictures of these magnificent birds while they circled our ship in the Drake Passage, with a zoom lens was difficult.  Here are a few shots that I hope you'll enjoy:

Albatross following the ship

 As you can see, the wingspan on these birds is enormous. Generally, they would glide alongside the ship for sometime before careening off for a bit.  Sure enough, they would be back after a few minutes.  This is simply a sampling of the many pictures I took of the Wandering Albatross.  Of course, more often than not the pictures came out blurry.

 After a long day, we got to relax and have a nice dinner.  We went to bed early as we knew we had a big day ahead of us, especially since we were going to have our first landing to visit with penguins!