Guests were invited to enjoy a diverse range of presentations throughout the day. Lisa began by sharing her personal journey and experiences in developing the art of visual storytelling. After a short disembarkation briefing, Ezra gave us a comparative glimpse into Scott and Amundsen’s South Pole expeditions and the factors that may have influenced their very different outcomes. After lunch and perhaps a bit of a catnap, afternoon presentations included an overview of the seals of the Southern Ocean by Shell. Mike finished off by sharing the history of Antarctic diving along with a bit of show-and-tell of the gear he and Jason use to capture the stunning underwater images and footage they have shared with us this trip. Recap continued with lively offerings from the team, including geomorphology, krill, and even a wool-spinning demonstration before we headed to dinner.
12/22/2024
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National Geographic Resolution
Drake Passage
There’s nothing quite like a wake to the “Drake Lake.” Bright skies, calm seas, and refreshing winds welcomed us to our journey’s jolly jaunt into the fabled gateway to the Antarctic. As National Geographic Resolution’s surroundings streamed past in crisp, high-seas definition, we used our sea day to prepare for tomorrow’s first landings beyond the Antarctic Convergence: Zodiac briefings, decontamination parties, and presentations galore filled our memory banks as we enjoyed this gift of a crossing from the sea gods. Plentiful seabirds joined the procession. Great albatrosses followed closely astern as Antarctic prions and Cape petrels zoomed about in our slipstream, all phylogenetic and ecological neighbors to yesterday’s Magellanic penguins spotted in the Beagle Channel, just before two sei whales pushed back bedtime by a whale of a margin. “Blows, big blows up ahead!” came the call from the Bridge, when, in the midafternoon, we came upon a group of lazy fin whales, casually cruising by as the second largest organisms to have ever lived on Earth. With our souls full from this small appetizer of the richness of the world to the south, Captain Martin welcomed us all to the adventures ahead. Tomorrow, the South Shetlands—onward!