This was our second full day at sea on our way to South Georgia through the Scotia Sea. The ship was still moving around a lot but not as violently as yesterday.
The programme today was to be about preparing for the landings when we arrive at South Georgia.
After breakfast I went on a bridge tour which was fascinating. We were advised not attend if we felt at all sea sick as the views from the bridge would only make things worse.
Friday 3rd March was spent mainly inside listening to lectures and preparing for the next day’s landing on South Georgia. It was cold and very windy with rough seas.
Bridge tour on MS Fram
Fram was following a track to South Georgia that she had used before. On the computer screen we could see the planned route overlaid with all the other tracks followed by Fram in the past.
The system logged information to add to the knowledge known about the area. The available charts for the area were not recent and some were from the early 1900s. Fram shared information with other ships using the same navigation system to help build up more recent information about the sea.
As we were running through rough seas Fram’s stabilisers were deployed. They had been deployed earlier when we crossed Drake Passage. They were retracted once we had reached the Antarctic ice. The ship’s ballast tankshad been adjusted to counteract the wind blowing from the side of the ship. This helped the stabilsers to limit rolling.
We were told by the navigation officer that the highest waves we’d encountered had been 7 meters in Drake Passage. The waves now in the Scotia Sea were only between 4 and 5 meters.
Briefing on South Georgia
Our mandatory meeting about South Georgia was at 11 am. Our first landing at St Andrews Bay would be a beach landing. The beach is renown for its swell and we would have to have both our hands free and be prepared to get wet.
We would be able to walk all along the beach to a ridge to look over the beach. To get there we would have to cross a couple of streams.
There are hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs of King penguins at St Andrews Bay. On the beach there would be both fur and elephant seals.
After we had been briefed by the expedition team we had to watch a video from the government of South Georgia. The film covered the ecology of the island, the terrain and the dangers to visitors on the island. The dangers were mainly from fur seals.
We probably would not be going near the nesting grounds of the millions of birds to be found on the island. The government, helped by charities, is trying to control or eradicate the alien species brought to the island by sealers or whalers. These included reindeer, rats and dandelions.
It was still cold outside
A brief visit to Deck 7 confirmed that the ship was still in rough seas with strong winds blowing.
South Georgia
After a buffet lunch I vacuumed our clothes and bags ready for for our next landing.
Then we went to a lecture on the geology of South Georgia which had lots of asides about the history of the island including the arrival of sealers and whalers.
South Georgia is inside the Antarctic Convergence. This is where the cold waters flowing North meet warmer waters. Where they meet creates a zone that is relatively rich in marine life. The zone close by to South Georgia helps to support the millions of sea birds that reside there.
The whalers who came into Cumberland Bay could see all the pots abandoned by sealers and named the place bay of pots – Grytviken.
We learnt that the first whalers did not even have to leave Grytviken Bay to kill whales as the bay was full of whales close to the shore.
More fresh air
We sat outside looking for sea birds after the lecture. After almost two days of being inside with little time spent outside we needed to blow away the air conditioned feeling.
Our dinner was again at 8 pm and was punctuated by the crashing of dishes as the ship suddenly rolled. Dinner was beef and spinach soup, poached cod followed by Manchester tart and ice cream.
As we settled down for the night the ship was still pitching with an occasional roll. Definitely roll on land tomorrow!