Monday, February 26^th, 2018                                      Sunrise: 0624/Sunset: 2029

The Scotia Sea Day 2

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”  –Jacques Yves Cousteau

Today we continue east, northeast toward the southern end of the South Georgia archipelago.  The seas may yet build so please bear this in mind when moving about the ship.  Sometime today we will divert from the Caird’s route to the island as Worsley guided their journey for landfall on the north end of the island.  We instead will aim for an approach past the southern Cape Disappointment, so named by Captain Cook on board the Resolution when he realized he had not found the continent of Antarctica.  He and his men had instead realized the land he named for King George is indeed a long, narrow island unto itself–over a thousand miles from the continent he had hoped to find.

We awoke this morning to sunny skies and relatively calm seas.  The day will be filled with lectures and lounging about the ship while we move onward toward the South Georgia Islands.  A few hourglass dolphins were spotted off the port side early this morning.  We passed one large tabular iceberg early, but other than that the only view is miles and miles of ocean waves.  Probably won’t have any interesting photographs today.

0930     Lightroom Workshop – Photo instructor Doug Gould will be presenting an overview of this powerful software’s capabilities.  Learn the basics or start down the path to more advanced uses to organizing, editing, enhancing your digital libraries by joining him in the Lounge.

1100     The Invisible Forest: The Southern Ocean’s Plankton Community – Our Undersea Specialist Caitlyn Webster will be in the Lounge to take us beneath the waves once more and reveal the multitude of lifeforms which make up the nearly invisible ecosystem of the Southern Ocean.

1200-1330  Lunch is served in the Restaurant. Lighter fare is available in the Lounge.

1500     An Introduction to South Georgia’s Natural History – Join Shaun Powell in the Lounge or on your stateroom television for general overview of the factors and species that contribute to the island’s uniquely bountiful ecosystem.

1600     Afternoon Tea is served in the Lounge.

1700    The Smell of the Sea – Conor Ryan will be in the Lounge to take us on an olfactory journey where we will discover how seabirds track phytoplankton and find their food.

1800    A special photo-centric Recap & Briefing with the Expedition Team in the Lounge.  Jim has submitted some of his photo’s for critique.

1900    Dinner is served in the Dining Room.  Tonight at dinner, Teddy, our waiter spotted a whale for us!

2100  Movie Night in the Lounge: part two of Chasing Shackleton– This docu-drama recreates the incredible voyage of the James Caird from Elephant Island to South Georgia.  Popcorn will be provided!