If you want to know more about our Antarctic Expeditions and Cruises, you may enjoy reading this Antarctic Cruise Diary, a real account written by one of our staff researchers, of the cruise that they enjoyed in December 2006.
14 Dec 2006
Time: 1030
Position: Lat: 53°.47’ S Lon: 63°. 48’ W
Air Temperature: + 6.1 °C
The morning broke with scattered cloud and moderate seas. It appeared as if the Southern Ocean and the infamous Drake Passage was letting us off lightly! Some early birds were up at 4.30am and were aptly rewarded with a close up view of two Humpback whales just 100m off the bow of the ship. The rest of us enjoyed the extra hours of shut-eye and emerged for breakfast at 8am. Everyone is much more chirpy this morning, a sure sign that we’re finding our sea legs.
Late in the afternoon we found what we were all hoping to see. Two, possibly three Humpback Whales just off the port bow. Within minutes of our sighting one whale added to the excitement by breaching almost completely clear of the water. Two times the leviathan leapt high in the air and crashed back into the ocean on its back. The captain slowed the ship and for 15mins the whales circled the ship, occasionally showing us a fluke and repeatedly surfacing for air. From our vantage point on the bridge of the ship we could even see the whales gliding underwater, their white pectoral fins clearly showing beneath the surface. Just when we thought the show was over one whale sidled up to the bow of the ship and appeared to surf our bow wave like a dolphin.