Noon position : 63* 36’S 60* 40’W Sea temperature - 2.4C Air temperature - 2.1C
Some sore heads after the night before and a late breakfast helped.
This morning we sailed through the Bransfield Straight which is a body of water about 100 kilometres (60 miles) wide extending for 500 kilometres (300 miles) in a general north-east - south-west direction between the South Shetlands Islands and the Antarctic Peninsular. It is an Antarctic Specially Protected Area because of the fish spawning grounds organisms to be found there
Here we saw many icebergs together with whales. An attempt was made to collect skin samples from the whales and which was successful. The Straight was unusually calm so we were told as at times it can be more violent than the Drake Passage. It was so calm and warm that in the afternoon I was on deck without a coat, just a sweater over my shirt.
At Mikkelsen Harbour, discovered in 1901, there is an out of use Argentine refuge hut. Once on shore no-one could approach the hut as the Gentoo penguins and Rossand Weddell seals had made their home around the building. With so many penguins around I was now getting used to the smell from them and this was the first time to see penguins in the snow.
There is a small Argentine refuge on the island. In addition, there is a large pile of whalebone's and a whalers’ water boat located on the northeast shore of the island.
In the evening the captain asked for volunteers from the passengers to do a deck watch from 20.00 to 0400 hrs so that the crew could have a rest. The watch was to look for icebergs and check that the ship did not drag it’s anchor. The latter was in addition to an automatic alarm which monitored the ship’s position by satellite navigation and automatically alarmed should the ship move a prescribed distance from a set point.
Some sore heads after the night before and a late breakfast helped.
This morning we sailed through the Bransfield Straight which is a body of water about 100 kilometres (60 miles) wide extending for 500 kilometres (300 miles) in a general north-east - south-west direction between the South Shetlands Islands and the Antarctic Peninsular. It is an Antarctic Specially Protected Area because of the fish spawning grounds organisms to be found there
Here we saw many icebergs together with whales. An attempt was made to collect skin samples from the whales and which was successful. The Straight was unusually calm so we were told as at times it can be more violent than the Drake Passage. It was so calm and warm that in the afternoon I was on deck without a coat, just a sweater over my shirt.
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| Icebergs |
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| Waiting for the whales to surface |
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| Showing the crossbow |
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| The arrow, with a hollow point. |
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| Whales blowing |
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| A lucky shot (of the camera I mean) |
At Mikkelsen Harbour, discovered in 1901, there is an out of use Argentine refuge hut. Once on shore no-one could approach the hut as the Gentoo penguins and Rossand Weddell seals had made their home around the building. With so many penguins around I was now getting used to the smell from them and this was the first time to see penguins in the snow.
There is a small Argentine refuge on the island. In addition, there is a large pile of whalebone's and a whalers’ water boat located on the northeast shore of the island.
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| Europa in the bay |
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| A penguin colony |
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| The red is krill, not blood. |
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| A happy leopard seal |
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| Remains of an old catcher boat and whale bones |
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| Argentine refuge hut |
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| Mikkelsen Harbour |
In the evening the captain asked for volunteers from the passengers to do a deck watch from 20.00 to 0400 hrs so that the crew could have a rest. The watch was to look for icebergs and check that the ship did not drag it’s anchor. The latter was in addition to an automatic alarm which monitored the ship’s position by satellite navigation and automatically alarmed should the ship move a prescribed distance from a set point.
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