On the way to South Georgia

En litt seinere frokost gjør ingen ting og bølgene har ikke gjort oss mindre sultne. I dag skal vi ha en dag med sjøutsikt på alle kanter, men oi, full rulle omord. For å kunne gå i land på sør Georgia og Antarktis er det veldig viktig at regler følges. Spesielt viktig er dette med renhold av klær og utstyr så i dag har samtlige passasjerer hatt 3 sesjoner med dette både teori og praksis, og de fleste tar dette veldig seriøst og det er også fremragende at Hurtigruten går foran som et godt eksempel på hvor seriøst dette er for naturen og klimaet. Vi har støvsuget yttertøy, votter og luer for støv, frø og partikler slik at vi trygt kan gå i land uten å bringe med oss noe som ikke hører hjemme på denne del av verden.

Sjøen er røff der ute og bølgene er oppi 4til 5 meter, og det kan bli enda tøffere i morgen, men foreløpig har vi det bra. Skal man på en ekspedisjon som dette, må vi regne med det meste, men her gjøres alt for at vi skal ha det best mulig hele tiden og vi kan bare være takknemlige.

Vi legger oss fortsatt ved siden av hverandre, slitne etter nok en dag med opplevelser og ser om vi ruller nermere hverandre eller finner igjen hverandre på gulvet i løpet av natten eller morgentimene. Igjen sier jeg, alt kan skje på ekspedisjon...😉🌊🚢🦺😂😴

This is an Expedition. It is NOT a cruise. As an expedition it has a number of scientists on board, including Dr. George the ornithologist, several marine mammal experts studying the whales, dolphins and porpoises, and several marine biologists studying the strange world of plankton and algae. Us guests are fully involved in the scientists work, as extra pairs of eyes on the foredeck, looking for whales, dolphins and birds, and also participating in the collection of water samples for the study of plankton and algae etc. I attended a workshop to see the findings from the water samples, and looking at the tiny plankton shown on a large screen from a camera integrated inside the microscope was fascinating! To see small "lice" running around on a miniscule piece of algae and silicon based creatures living on the algae was mind-boggling.

George is always present at the bird rookeries with expert info on the birds and their environment. He also gave a very interesting lecture on the Falkland Islands birdlife yesterday.

Today we have been sailing towards South Georgia. As I said in yesterdays blogg we have not been lazing about. We have had 3 obligatory sessions today, the first being a presentation of the rules for visiting South Georgia and Antarctica which are actually fixed in Norwegian Law. This was given by the expedition leader, Tessa. The second session was to clean all outside clothing we will be wearing in the two areas and the third to clean the rubber boots. Clothing and boots being inspected by the scientists before gaining approval.

Hurtigruten do an amazing job in making sure these fragile ecosystems are properly protected from the introduction of alien species of bug, plant or virus, which could cause damage to the existing biodiversity.

Tomorrow is also a day at sea, with lectures, science projects and information meetings about forthcoming activities.

During the first presentation, Tessa gave us the daily brief on wind speed, gusts and wave heights and the forecast for the coming 24 hours. This evening we were expecting large waves but now it looks like we will meet these tomorrow. In any case we have been advised to secure articles in our cabins to prevent them from "flying about"....

Another fantastic day on MS Fram, Southbound!