25 Feb 2016

2 Feb Voyage: Shokalskiy Ross Sea Recap

We had a full day at sea enjoying lectures and screenings during calm conditions, sun and relatively clear blue skies.

Marcus Thomassen told us more about the life of Ernest Shackleton, this time focusing on the Nimrod expedition and the type of man he was, more concerned with ensuring the safety of his men and gaining geological knowledge than feeding his pride to reach the South pole. The movie ‘The Worst Journey in the World’ was screened, offering a biographical description of Cherry-Garrad’s experience with the Terra Nova expedition, revealing how he was tormented with the idea that he could have saved the lives of Scott, Wilson and Bowers. ‘Solid Water, Liquid Rock’ was then screened. This movie covered the research undertaken to investigate the fire and ice elements (top and bottom) that make up Mount Erebus. A thorough review of our time in the Ross Sea region was given by Rodney, Samuel, Agnes, Grigory and Marcus outlining the wildlife, ice formations and places we’d visited and seen, as well as the explorers and expeditions undertaken during the Heroic Age associated with the area.

We are now off Sturge Island and will make our way up the east coast overnight. At around 0700hrs in the morning we are scheduled to arrive at Sabrina Island and hope to take a Zodiac cruise along the shoreline  if weather and sea conditions allow.