There and back again. An explorer’s tale by Joseph Sharman
As dawn broke on our final day at sea we were woken by the repeated rolling and tanging of the ocean swell as the ship sped through the Drake’s Passage; attempting to out-run the ever closing storm. The team was fairing well with spirits high. However, we soon discovered that staring down binoculars in Beaufort 6 open sea can cause some problems, and after a few near “man-over-board” drills we finally found our balance and began the days surveying.
Aside from a few fin whale sightings, the morning was mostly dominated with spectacular fly-bys from many different species of albatross including: Southern Royal, wandering, grey-headed, black-browed and light-mantled sooty albatross. The mid-afternoon bird identification banter was suddenly quelled by the intrepid shout of “LAND HO!” as the Tierra del Fuego islands started to creep over the horizon. After a quick check of the GPS and some horizon scanning we also began to see the islands of Cape Horn come into view; filling everyone with that overwhelming feeling of expedition success, which so many of history’s great explorers must have felt before whilst gazing over these elusive islands.
After feeling confident that the storm had mostly been out-run, the boat returned to its normal crossing speed and headed for the Beagle Channel. We were all eager to experience this region having heard previous stories of large baleen whales and different species of dolphins spotted here. And the Beagle Channel did not disappoint… Within minutes the marine mammal surveyors were inundated with sightings from all around the boat. Groups of up to five sei whales were being seen with some individuals even coming as close as 30 meters from the starboard bow. As excitement radiated from the upper decks of the vessel; the channel provided yet again. Small pods of dusky dolphins started to surround the ship, playfully leaping and riding our bow waves. After a quick cocktail and recap with the ship’s captain to celebrate the safe journey home, we returned to the upper deck to watch pensively as the sun set and the dolphins played. A fitting end for a life changing adventure.
Our final night on board concluded with the expedition’s ‘last supper’ followed by drinks (mostly bought for the students by guests who admired our week’s ‘hard work’) and finished with some singing before the sad task of packing ready for the morning’s disembarkation.
