Drake Passage, Antarctica - travel experience, post, guide, blog and photos

Antarctica: The Expedition, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage, Halfmoon Island, Rocas Hydrurga with Cuverville Island, Palmer Station with Lemaire Channel & Petermann Island, Brown Station with Neko Harbor, Brown Bluff with Esperanza Station, Whalers Bay with Yankee Harbor, Drake Passage

Antarctica Expedition - Day 2:
by Prakash Bang, Editor in Chief

Sunday, January 10th
Drake Passage
Morning Temp.: 4ºC
Winds: 19 knots SE
Evening Temp.: 4ºC
Winds: 20 knots E

After the Crossing of the Drake Passage, towards Halfmoon Island, Antarctica

I must confess, the next day I missed the lectures by Mariano on "Marine Birds of Antarctica", Daniel's lecture on the "Evolution of the Antarctica Peninsula" and Agustin's session on "Land of Records". I was in the bed, going side by side, or back & forth depending upon the mood of the ship! I skipped lunch and the afternoon snacks save for a cup of coffee.

Crossing the Drake Passage, Antarctica

However, in the evening I came out on the deck to watch the birds of the Drake - Giant Petrel, Cape Petrel, Wandering Albatross and Black-browed Albatross. Later on after a light dinner, we watched the movie "Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure".

The next morning, Drake Passage would be behind us!

Fact file: The Antarctic Convergence marks the true ecological margin of Antarctica, being formed by the meeting between warmer water masses flowing southward from the tropics and colder waters flowing northward from Antarctica. At this point, the cold and dense Antarctic Water dives beneath the warmer water. Further south, the upwelling of deeper water mass is pushed apart by the opposing West and East Wind Drift systems to bring nutrients to the surface, which feed the vast sea of plankton in the area.

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