Drake Passage |
600 miles of water between Ushuaia and Antarctica |
We awoke to 3 meter swells. Only about half of the passengers made it to
dinner. Presumably the other half were seasick. I was never nausiated
thanks to the dramamine, but the dizziness prevented me from doing much
of anything. I made it to a lecture or two, and the growing anticipation
kept my mind off of the rolling seas. It helped a lot to go outside and
get some fresh air.
The next day was calm and foggy. We couldn't see more than a few boat-lengths
out. Our expedition leader, Susan, asked the Russian captain if we were
lost -- she'd never seen the Drake passage so calm. Indeed earlier that
season the ship sat for 10 hours pointed into the wind waiting for the
hurricane gusts to subside. Thank god I wasn't on that cruise.
During the day people started reporting seeing penguins in the water.
How exciting! How unbelievable, since we were still 250 miles away. I
guess they are seabirds. Astonishing how far away they will go for food.
After lunch I stood on the bow and spotted the first seal in the water.
It was tagged with a big green plastic tag on its flipper. Spotted a few
penguins, too.
After dinner the penguins were numerous. You could see them swimming
and leaping out of the water just like little dolphins. There were
hundreds of them escaping the ship's path. We must be close.
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