At breakfast, our waiter welcomed us to the “Drake Lake”. We were having extremely wonderful calm conditions, which was a pleasant surprise. As we looked around the ship, anything of weight is chained down for the normal Drake Passage Seas. It was amazing to see the grand pianos with massive chains to the floor, along with all the chairs and tables. At least Cindy does not have to remind Norm to push in his chair after meals as they are where they are. The day could not have been more beautiful, with the sun shining and a bright blue sky. Little wind made for spending time on deck to watch the wondering albatross and petrels following the wake. Since we were at sea all day, we were enriched with information on whales and dolphins of the Southern Ocean, geology, glaciology, geography, history, and seabirds.
Did you know?
-that there are 86 species of whales and dolphins with the largest being the Blue whale at 100 feet,>400,000 pounds (size of a 747 jet or 2000 people) and the smallest being the Commerson’s dolphin at 31/2 feet
-the species are divided into Mysticetes(baleen plates form from the roof of their mouths for filter feeding) and Odonesedes.
-the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise is size and the shape of their teeth, with the porpoise being smaller and having round teeth
-that the killer whale is really a dolphin and each group has its own dialect
-Sperm whales can stay under water for 1-2 hours
-calves swallow their mother’s milk after it is dispersed into the water
-the black and white counter shading is for camouflage
-krill are the key food chain species here
-Fin whales are considered the “greyhounds” of the sea and have an asymmetrical pattern to assist with feeding
-Other whales in the Antarctic include the Minke, Southern Right, Humpback, Southern Bottlenose, Hourglass, Peale’s dolphin
-Ice is a rock
-The South Pole is over solid land mass and surrounded by water, and the North Pole is over water which is surrounded by land and has about 144,000 indigenous people
-Antarctica is the 5th largest continent, the size of the US and Mexico combined, with the highest average elevation at 6000 feet, it is the windiest, coldest, and driest place on earth and could be considered a desert with only 4-6 inches of snow a year
-98% of freshwater in the world is locked in ice
-Rocks of Antarctica pre-date dinosaurs and are from the Cretatian period over 3 billion years ago.
-Due to the treaty there is no mining of the precious metals on the continent
-The South Pole marker needs to be moved about 30 feet each year due to the shift in the continent
-The top of tabular icebergs are perfectly flat
-Up to 10,000 icebergs are calved from ice shelves each year and last usually 4-10 years
-7-9/10 of an iceberg is below water
-Blue in the icebergs relates to the pure denseness of the ice
-Green in the icebergs is frozen ocean from the bottom that has tipped up
-Black is the rich sediment frozen in time
-Greatest seasonal effect occurs in Antarctica when its diameter doubles, the ice packs can grow at an alarming rate of 8 feet per minute
-All these icebergs began as a single snowflake at mountain top
-Oldest recorded albatross was 75 years
-Seabirds of Antarctica include various albatross (ambassadors of the Southern Sea), petrels, southern Fulmar, skuas, and sheathbills
-How far can an albatross fly? Really far! Some circle Antarctica during a single year as found by transmitters on birds that have been tagged
-Antarctic is a Greek word for the opposite of Arctic- They believed that something must exist on the other side of the planet to balance the Arctic. They always believed that someday a land called Terris Australis Incogneta would be found. This translated to Unknown Southern Land.
-Antarctica is an environmentally protected area that belongs to no country. Many countries have laid claim to parts of the area and with the signing of the Antarctica Treaty, all claims are suspended for 50 years and the area is only for conservation and scientific study. Many countries have science bases here. The US is at McMurdo Bay.
We sailed across the Antarctic Convergence. This is where the cold water of the Antarctic Ocean meets the warmer waters of the Atlantic. The seas get a bit rougher, pushing the warmer water back toward South America. The water dropped from 8 to 5 degrees centigrade at the convergence. No SCUBA diving in this place for us. The convergence changes during the seasons but for our trip it occurred between 50 and 60 degrees south latitude.
Did you know?
-that there are 86 species of whales and dolphins with the largest being the Blue whale at 100 feet,>400,000 pounds (size of a 747 jet or 2000 people) and the smallest being the Commerson’s dolphin at 31/2 feet
-the species are divided into Mysticetes(baleen plates form from the roof of their mouths for filter feeding) and Odonesedes.
-the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise is size and the shape of their teeth, with the porpoise being smaller and having round teeth
-that the killer whale is really a dolphin and each group has its own dialect
-Sperm whales can stay under water for 1-2 hours
-calves swallow their mother’s milk after it is dispersed into the water
-the black and white counter shading is for camouflage
-krill are the key food chain species here
-Fin whales are considered the “greyhounds” of the sea and have an asymmetrical pattern to assist with feeding
-Other whales in the Antarctic include the Minke, Southern Right, Humpback, Southern Bottlenose, Hourglass, Peale’s dolphin
-Ice is a rock
-The South Pole is over solid land mass and surrounded by water, and the North Pole is over water which is surrounded by land and has about 144,000 indigenous people
-Antarctica is the 5th largest continent, the size of the US and Mexico combined, with the highest average elevation at 6000 feet, it is the windiest, coldest, and driest place on earth and could be considered a desert with only 4-6 inches of snow a year
-98% of freshwater in the world is locked in ice
-Rocks of Antarctica pre-date dinosaurs and are from the Cretatian period over 3 billion years ago.
-Due to the treaty there is no mining of the precious metals on the continent
-The South Pole marker needs to be moved about 30 feet each year due to the shift in the continent
-The top of tabular icebergs are perfectly flat
-Up to 10,000 icebergs are calved from ice shelves each year and last usually 4-10 years
-7-9/10 of an iceberg is below water
-Blue in the icebergs relates to the pure denseness of the ice
-Green in the icebergs is frozen ocean from the bottom that has tipped up
-Black is the rich sediment frozen in time
-Greatest seasonal effect occurs in Antarctica when its diameter doubles, the ice packs can grow at an alarming rate of 8 feet per minute
-All these icebergs began as a single snowflake at mountain top
-Oldest recorded albatross was 75 years
-Seabirds of Antarctica include various albatross (ambassadors of the Southern Sea), petrels, southern Fulmar, skuas, and sheathbills
-How far can an albatross fly? Really far! Some circle Antarctica during a single year as found by transmitters on birds that have been tagged
-Antarctic is a Greek word for the opposite of Arctic- They believed that something must exist on the other side of the planet to balance the Arctic. They always believed that someday a land called Terris Australis Incogneta would be found. This translated to Unknown Southern Land.
-Antarctica is an environmentally protected area that belongs to no country. Many countries have laid claim to parts of the area and with the signing of the Antarctica Treaty, all claims are suspended for 50 years and the area is only for conservation and scientific study. Many countries have science bases here. The US is at McMurdo Bay.
We sailed across the Antarctic Convergence. This is where the cold water of the Antarctic Ocean meets the warmer waters of the Atlantic. The seas get a bit rougher, pushing the warmer water back toward South America. The water dropped from 8 to 5 degrees centigrade at the convergence. No SCUBA diving in this place for us. The convergence changes during the seasons but for our trip it occurred between 50 and 60 degrees south latitude.
posted by norm and cindy @ 11:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home