24 Feb 2016

2 Feb Voyage: Shokalskiy Orca Farewell

We awoke at 0500hrs to a magnificent sunrise which lit up Cape Hallet. The moon was suspended above Mount Herschel which was swathed in pink hues as the sun rose casting golden rays across the ocean. The sunshine stayed with us for the entire day offering superb photographic opportunities as we sailed away from the Ross Sea. We savoured the chance to drink in our last views of Cape McCormick, Cape Downshire, Cape Adare, Robertson Bay and the Admiralty Ranges featuring Mounts Minto and Adam, the first mountains to be seen and named by James Clark Ross. Pods of Orca must have received information via seismic lines of communication and arrived to provide us with a stunning display along the port side of the ship as we bade farewell to the Antarctic continent. They were seen as a sign that the great white continent wished us well on our journey. We are now making our way towards the Belleny Islands that lie on the cusp of the convergence of Antarctic waters and are scheduled to arrive there late tomorrow evening.