Overnight, we crossed into the Southern Ocean proper: the sea surface temperature dropped from 5 to 2 degrees Celsius. The wildlife composition also changed, with a higher abundance of seabirds and marine mammals. We encountered a large group of long-finned pilot whales before the fog thickened and prevented us from finding wildlife.
11/14/2024
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National Geographic Explorer
Elephant Island
This morning National Geographic Explorer arrived at Antarctica after a calm crossing of the Scotia Sea from South Georgia. At 6am, our expedition leader announced that we had arrived at the iconic location of Shackleton’s epic Elephant Island. The majority of adventurous souls on board headed for the bow or bridge to see Point Wild. For Shackleton’s men this was the first time in sixteen months they had been on land. After the Endurance sank, they spent 5.5 months camping on the ice and seven days in their rowboats to Cape Valentine. Realizing that beach was no safe-haven, Frank Wild took one of the lifeboats to seek a safer camp and found Point Wild, which was a miserable place. From the bow we could see the monument of Captain Pardo, commander of the Yelcho, which rescued the 22 men after Shackleton found help on South Georgia. A blustery day (gusts of 40 knots) around the island did not allow for a Zodiac cruise but we continued around the coast of Elephant Island and checked out Cape Valentine and Cape Lookout before heading across the Bransfield Strait to the Antarctic Peninsula.
