At Sea to South Georgia

Light mantled albatross following our ship

Sunday, November 5 -  At Sea to South Georgia

Good morning! Up early to enjoy a day At Sea

Today I was up at about 4 AM and enjoyed the sunrise at 4:40AM.  We’re at sea today, so our view from the balcony is the sea and the waves.  It’s a predominantly grey and rainy morning.  

I was up for morning stretching class, then had breakfast upstairs on Deck 8 - oatmeal and an avocado smoothie. A nice way to start the day.

We had a talk at 9:15 by Rob Edwards, “Welcome to the Lithosphere,” on the geology of the Falklands and a talk at 11 AM by Jamie Coleman on the Seabirds of the Southern Ocean.

Jamie’s talk couldn’t have had better timing, as there were so many sea birds around us, following in the wake of the ship. I saw the wandering albatross (longest wingspan - 12’), light mantled albatross, the cape petrel, the antarctic prion, and the black-browed albatross.  We were all crowded along the aft decks, photographing these impressive birds

Jamie's lecture included an explanation on how the albatross fly such long distances

Having fun photographing the sea birds following the Endurance

Light mantled albatross

Wandering albatross

Wandering albatross

Cape Petrel

Cape Petrel

Savory sandwiches during tea time

Our pastry chef, Rosa, outdid herself today at tea time - with a beautiful strawberry cream cake, among other treats.  And this in addition to some tasty deserts at lunch time.  We're lucky indeed to have so many tempting delights.

Tea time on Deck 8

A perfect strawberry cream torte

Sticky toffee pudding was today's lunch time desert

Michael enjoys an affogato

Connor Ryan provides a program on whales

We talked with Elizabeth, Matt and the boys on What’s App this afternoon  The boys weren’t overly impressed - Charlie was busy eating carrots.  But I am shaking my head that we could talk with them by phone when we were in the middle of the Southern Ocean.

 

Around 5 PM, Connor Ryan gave a well organized talk on the Whales of the Southern Ocean.  I learned a good deal, and his organization and delivery have been the best of the bunch of naturalists we’ve been listening to. 

French 75

After a fun and interesting day, it was time for our Recap in the Ice Lounge. And today, I discovered there is a daily Cocktail of the Day!  I saw someone drinking a pretty lemony drink, and asked them about it.  Turns out, it was a French 75 - a drink with memories from my AMA colleagues.  So, I had one, in addition to my usual Kir Royale.  They both looked very pretty in the setting sun.

Kir Royale