15 Feb 2016

2 Feb Voyage: Shokalskiy Ross Family Insights

It was overcast in the morning and conditions got progressively worse over the course of the day, with fog setting in restricting visibility. Expeditioners were entertained with talks from both Ross family descendants aboard, starting with James Ross, the great, great, grandson of Sir James Clark Ross who gave an account of the explorer’s personality. He suggested that the British love of failure could be a reason why his extraordinary feats as a polar explorer have remained so much under the radar compared with others, due to the outstanding success of all his ventures to the North and South Poles.  Great, great, great granddaughter, Philippa Ross then provided a personal insight into her own journey and hopes for the future. Her presentation entitled ‘A Journey of Hope’ told how she seeks to use her lineage to connect with people and resources to raise awareness about the importance of a healthy ocean for all life. She talked about a new ‘evolutionary emotional’ era dawning, ditching the industrial era of secular competitive individual gain and replacing it with one that embraces a holistic, collective co-operative approach.

In the afternoon Samuel Blanc gave a presentation on ‘Icebergs – Cathedrals of the Sea’ which he dedicated to Glacologist Louis Renaugh, who passed away last night. This lecture explained how icebergs are formed and the way their movements are monitored by satellite.  Later another episode of ‘The Last Place on Earth’ documentary was shown, followed by a movie with original footage of Byrd’s first flight across the South Pole. We are now at 78 degrees south and about 15 miles from the Bay of Whales.  We’ll be sailing off course slightly to drift overnight and will consider our options in the light of a new day, by which time we hope the fog will have lifted, making conditions more favourable for landings.