High Seas in the Drake Passage

After a month in the southern hemisphere and many days in Antarctica, the experiences, sometimes overwhelming, are slowly sinking into a resolve of wild beauty and extreme natural wonder. In the following weeks, I’ll be posting some images and video from my experiences there.

The return to Argentina from the Antarctic Peninsula requires crossing the Drake Passage, which is a two day fare of rocking and rolling in proportion to the sea conditions and the type of vessel. The weather forecast predicted some strong winds and seas up to 40 feet on day two of the crossing, but that softened a bit. While I desired with all reason to avoid sea sickness, I did wish secretly at least to experience some of the monstrous power of the southern ocean. In the end, the open ocean crossing was not terrible, but there were plenty of big waves encountered, and I grabbed a few video clips of water over the bow of the Polar Star. Here is one that might translate some of that energy. I took this from the bridge walkway of the ship, and had to duck quickly before getting blasted by the wave spray.